AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess

Chapter 99, “War Story" September 12, 1882, 3:45 AM.

Abby had been keeping back, watching and listening. "I don't know that I'd want to do that. This situation keeps getting murkier. It's getting hard to know who's a foe a who's a friend." Ruby nodded her head. "I agree with Abby. I don't know if we really want to pick sides here and get involved in the war, our whole effort has been trying to stop hostilities and help my friend the Princess. I can't drop a bomb near anywhere she might be. What is the French ship's goal, do you know?" He says, "It is where they brought the Princess's dowery prior to her wedding. It is also probably where the French leaders Dagurerre and Chevruel have gone. If they try to escape from Egypt I can assure you that my ship will sink them."

Maurice says, "Obviously I have a bias, I work for British Military Intelligence, and hold the equivalent rank of Colonel. But my primary objective here is to stop the French, who we all know were the ones that murdered the Egyptian King, either directly or indireclty." Abby ponders, "So they have her dowry... How do they benefit from having the Princess in hand? The King is dead, as is Orabi. Would they hold her as a bargaining chip? Obviously they had to keep her out of the way when she was being impersonated, but what now? It could help us figure out where they would have her now. I will admit, though, their ship seems likely." Ruby asks "Do you think that is where they would have taken the Princess?" He looks up and says, "The Princess is missing?"

Ruby answers, "Yes! They used the actress Sandra Bernhardt to impersonate her at the meeting. I am also taking into consideration that might not been the real Orabi, though even in death it looked like him. Perhaps he wasn't under his own control. But yes, the Princess is missing. That is why we came back here in hopes to find clues as to where they might be holding her. I seem to recall something about them killing the whole royal family with the exception of the Princess and somehow ruling though her. It would be reason for them to keep her alive."

He says, "That could be problematic then, my ship currently has orders to sink that vessel. If the heir to the Egyptian throne is killed by a British vessel it could play right into the French plans." Ruby says, "Which is why I said we can't drop a bomb on any place we don't know for sure if she is there. We don't have much to go on now to find here. Either they took her to the front lines, unlikely, or they took her with them. We think they smuggled her out of her room in her steamer trunk."

As George is examining the doors and hallway he sees Freya heading down from the staircase to the roof. She has only been gone around 20 minutes at this point. George heads down the hall to meet Freya, out of earshot of Maurice. "I hope there is good news?" he asks. Freya says, "The dirigible was on its way back. Only one French wizard was on board, and not any of the older ones. He had some French Foreign Legion troops with him. Instead of Zakazik, they went to the southeast and landed near the battle zone behind the Egyptian rebel forces. I saw another similar-sized dirigible moored behind the British troops as well."

George shakes his head unsure of what to make of the intelligence. "Come on Freya, we have a surprise in the room. We may need your help with it." George said to Freya as he leads her back to the group and the room with the bomb and explains what he wants her to do. She says, "Okay, yes, I could fly that out. What do you want to do with it?" Ruby says, "We're trying to figure that out now. I suppose we should just drop it someplace where nothing is around." "At the least, but we may be able to use it more, uh creatively." adds George. Mina says, "What are you thinking?"

"Well, if we could be sure of anything we could use it on the Armide, or on the French dirigible, or even on one of the damn armies. If we knew anything at least. There are so many uncertainties I am loath to do it, except as a distraction perhaps. Drop it behind the rebel army to unnerve them. Perhaps the best use would be to disable, but not sink the Armide." replies George. Mina says, "If the Princess is on the Armide we may need to mount a rescue. The bomb could be used as a distraction while we board her." Ruby interjects, "That's a good point Nana. It looks like we may have to just check both places, the French ship and also the place where the armies will clash. Unfortunately that doesn't give us a lot of time to do either. Just flip a coin and go. I don't think splitting us up is a good idea at all."

Maurice says "If we're taking the dirigible that you obtained to Herakleion we would need to do so soon, while we are still under the cover of darkness. Once the sun starts to rise it would be visible for miles around." "We need to hit the ship. We can use the bomb near the ship or the armies. But we need to find the princess. It is only through here that we can stop the battle. So going there without her is not productive. The Armide it is. Now where best to set the bomb off." adds George. Ruby says, "Let's take it with us and just go. If we aren't sure and time is out we can drop it in the water." "Time is running out." says George.

Maurice says, "Probably at sea, we could use a lifeboat from my ship. The city of Heraclueum was the main port of the Pharoahs. It was later used by the Greeks, who renamed it after the Greek God Hercules. It sank twelve centuries ago following a series of earthquakes which changed the entire coastline in that area. The Armide is anchored nearly four miles off shore, above the submerged ruins of the ancient city. We believe that they have been sending divers down to search the old city, looking for some sort of magical gateway." "Magical gateway to where?" Ruby asked curiously. "Either way, we shouldn't bomb an ancient city!"

"Henry! Did you find anything!" George calls out. "But yes, I think we ought to get going." Henry gives George a pile of crumpled papers. Some look to be in French, others in the Altantian language. "They were in the bedroom waste basket," is the boy's reply. "Good job lad" replies George as scans them before he puts them in his enchanted notebook. They look to be recipes for potions. "Well, let's load up and head over to the ship. Let's break open the door frame and get the bomb out to the window. Once outside we can get it airborne through a couple of means. We can decide where to drop it on the way." says George. Lawrence looks around and grabs a crowbar to pry the hinge pins out.

Ruby asks, "Maurice, what was your plan after you left here?" He states, "To find and rejoin my teammates at whichever location appeared most promising, Tel-el Kabir, Herakleion or Gizah." "Sounds like a good plan. George darling, may I have a word with you in the hallway?" She began walking out and took Abby by the arm to join them, leaving Fish and Lawrence inside to keep an eye on things. She spoke quietly, "So, we know some of his story is false. Could he be leading us away from where we want to be?" Mina follows the trio out. She says, "I know something about Mr. Beaujoulais. He would never knowingly work with the French wizards, they were responsible for the death of his parents."

Ruby whispers quietly, "I don't know if we should trust this spy giving us information. He could certainly have his own reasons for leading us astray. So friends, we must decide, do we follow the Frenchman's dirigible or do we listen to Maurice and try Herakleion? My instinct tells me to follow the dirigible but of course, magic could have been used to move the Princess to another site and we'd have no way of knowing. I'm not convinced of either site at the moment."

Mina says that she has a history with Beaujoulais and could ask him questions that only he would know, if there is concern that he may be one of the French wizards in disguise. Ruby replies, "That is an excellent idea Nana! That is definitely one of my concerns, with all the actors and disguises and possible magical controlling going on around here." Mina says, "Well, I can prove that he is Boujoulais, who would never work for the French Wizards that killed his parents, but he could still be under their magical control. George, what do you think?"

Back inside the room, Fish engages Mr. Beaujoulais in conversation, Lawrence continues to check the bedrooms. He finds hidden between the bed cushions a tightly rolled up scroll with a very thin dagger tied to the inside. "OOhhh what is that?" Ruby asked as she goes back into the room with her ever present curiosity. "May I see it Lawrence?" "Yes, I think that at this point it is prudent. Would detect magic detect if he was under some manner of control or enchantment? But yes, vett him while I check out that dagger." whispers back George to Mina.

Lawrence hands the scroll and dagger to Ruby and George as Mina gestures for Lawrence to accompany her back into the other room with Fish, Abby and Beaujoulais. They unroll the scroll which has magical writings in Atlantian script. The dagger itself is lightweight and casts a thin shimmer of golden light. "Wow this is amazing! It's obviously magical but what does it do I wonder? When Nana is done with Maurice we'll ask her to look at the writings." Ruby holds the dagger at arms length and concentrates on it. Casting detect magic . The entire dagger glows with magic, with the tip appearing to contain the most magic.

Ruby is able to ascertain that while the dagger could be used as a weapon, its true purpose is as a special tool used for the creation of magical items. "Um, this can be used to make magical items. I wonder if this scroll is magical too or maybe they are the directions on how to use the dagger. We'll have to look into this more. When Nana is done, we'll ask her. But perhaps we should keep it hidden from Maurice? I don't know if we can trust him, hopefully Nana has insight into that."

Willamina Parker approaches Beaujoulais and says, "Maurice, I would like a word with you." She approaches him, with Abby, Fish and Lawrence also present. Deciding to be direct Mina says "There are some concerns among my colleagues as to your true identity. Their apprehension is justified, given the number of French imposters already encountered and the fact that you are here in their rooms." Gesturing towards Lawrence she says, "The French wizards would be unaware of when you first crossed paths with Lawrence and myself. Would you care to fill us in?"

He smiles and says, "Absolutely, although until this minute I was unaware that anybody except your husband James knew that it was me. It was on the night of Saturday October 8th of 1864 in Richmond, Virginia. I was part of a British spy team operating on a parallel mission as the American team comprised of you, Mr. Cantrell, Mr. Parker and Doctor Crane.

The Confederacy was in very poor shape. Lee's army was under siege for the winter in Petersburg, Virginia while the Union Army's General Sherman had just burnt Atlanta to the ground and was marching to the coast. Confederate President Davis was desperate for something to quickly change the tide of the war and had made arrangements with the King of Spain to obtain a large cache of magical artifacts to break the siege with plans to then march to the District of Columbia, preferably before the November 8th election. Should Washington fall, it would have ushered in an almost certain victory for the Democratic candidate McClellan over Lincoln. Due to the prior successes of both your team and mine at stopping magical shipments to the Confederacy, it meant that Davis knew that absolute secrecy had to be maintained about the pending arrival of the magic, so the only place to obtain that information was from Davis's own files.

On that night Mrs. Parker you played the role of a Southern Belle, with Doctor Crane as your slave, and distracted the night guards, as Mr. Cantrell and Mr. Parker searched President Davis's office. The two of you managed to find the information but were then nearly captured, due to the untimely return of President Davis and his own executive guard detail to the office. If not for the combination of a clumsy janitor spilling a large mop bucket of wash water on the President and his party, simultaneous to the passing by of a wagon filled with linens that you two American spies jumped from the 3rd floor window into, all would have been lost." Turning to Lawrence he says, "Mr. Cantrell, I was that janitor, and another member of my team was driving that linen wagon."

Lawrence squints at the man, staring intently at his face. Then Lawrence brightens and says, "I knew there was something familiar about you. Let me shake your hand." Lawrence pumps Beaujoulais' hand. "You and your team kept us out of Andersonville or worse. Hah, I wish I could have seen the face on the Spanish ambassador's face when Seward showed him those papers." Beaujoulais says, "It was my pleasure Mr. Cantrell, and I'll have you know that your team returned the favor with interest a few months later. The only communication between our teams was with the two team leaders, who made sure that we stayed out of each other's way, while also overlapping when it was necessary." Lawrence says, "It's a wise precaution. No sense in taking more risks than necessary in wartime. Another time then."

Mina returns to George and Ruby saying "He passed the test, he's the genuine article." "Thank you Nana. It's comforting to know he is himself, though it does not tell us what his intentions are. He still may be completely at odds with our companies goals." Ruby held out the dagger for the grandmother to look over. "Lawrence found this hidden in the couch. I do not yet want to show it to Maurice. It's magical and I think it has something to do with making other magical items. Can you tell what this Atlantian writing says?"

Mina spends a minute looking it over and says, "Yes, it is the instructions for making the potion that Lawrence and I discovered Chevreul working on several days ago. It is a very advanced version of a self-transformation elixir. Some human transformation potions allow you to become anybody you wish and you just need to think of whom. Others require a physical object from the person, often a lock of hair. This one is much, much more complex than that, requiring a more substantial component from the individual, usually a finger or toe, although other body parts of equal size could be used. The item can't be taken from a corpse either, in fact, for the magic to work the person needs to remain alive while the other person is transformed into them.

The main advantages of this potion over a standard transformation item or potion, is that this transformation in undetectable and cannot be dispelled unless the person they resemble dies. It also transfers not only the physical resemblance but also the short-term memories from the person. One main disadvantage is that the potion has a very short shelf-life before use, typically ten to twelve hours maximum." Ruby says, "So... General Orabi? Seems logical to me." Mina says, "Well, he was badly wounded in battle and the French had their physician operate on him immediately afterwards. They could have obtained enough muscle and tissue then from his body to fulfill the material component needed for the elixir."

Ruby shook her head and sighed. "I just have a feeling it wasn't truly him that did such a bad thing. At any rate, let's get back inside all together and we can decide for real where we are going. It seems we can probably trust Maurice." She took the dagger, re-wrapped it and hid it inside her robes. One side of her lip turned into a smile, "Well, I don't trust anyone so let's keep this to ourselves for the moment." She waved a hand for her grandmother to go back into the room first, then followed her in. "What it is that we are waiting until we are all together to discuss?"

When Mina left the room, Abby stayed behind with Maurice. "What I really want to know, is how come you're leaving out a bit of what you've been up to the last day. I was at the pyramids, and I'm fairly certain you were as well. Perhaps it's not polite to question a spy when he chooses to leave something out, but I never was very good at following rules." Maurice looks at her skeptically, and says, "You are correct in that my story did include omissions, and I consolidated the timeline for some of the facts, but everything that I stated was truthful from the overall perspective of my team. Perhaps we should wait until the others return for me to elaborate further."

Seeing them enter Beaujoulais says, "Miss. Marsters has apprised me that you have some further concerns about me. Please let me explain. In an effort to protect the identities of members of my team who you are not yet aware of I chose to gloss over a few facts earlier, and have now been called out on it. Given the stakes involved it is imperative that we trust one another. Your team was aware of the identities of myself and my team members Henry Jekyll, Callum Stuart and young Henry Jones, so when I described our actions of the last half-day I implied that was my entire team. I purposely left out the identities and actions of two other team members that you were not aware of, as their lives would be in grave danger if their current associates knew they were working for the British Crown.

The fifth member of my team is an Egyptian on the King's staff, and it was he who helped to quickly get us the magical carpet to extract the unconscious Jekyll and then transport him to Heliopolis. The sixth team member then took on the disguise that Jekyll had used earlier, and we went to Gizah. We watched what transpired there from a distance. Our only direct involvement occurred after we saw the Frenchmen Rene Belloq and Henri Moissan blocking off the ventilation shafts of the pyramid that you were trapped inside. We forced them to stop and to flee, and we were trying to reverse their damage when you managed to escape the trap. We withdrew then, where our fifth team member then retrieved us from Gizah using the magical carpet."

George had been staring at the bomb and thinking as he listened to the vetting of Maurice and the discovery of the dagger and the potion instructions. He turns, "Ok, so we have a suspected manner of impersonating Orabi, one that is fairly extensive. It also means that Orabi is likely to be alive, or was a few hours ago. If I were the French I would want to keep him alive so that the body does not suddenly revert to that of the assassin. So we will need to find him. The fact that they had to use Berhardt for the princess says that they had not abducted her in time to acquire the needed body parts before they had to leave to the pyramids. That or they did not wish or fear to remove that much tissue from the princess.

They good news is that if Orabi is alive it completely refutes what people saw at the pyramid, clearing his name and hopefully averting the war. We have two issues remaining: this bomb and to which destination do we travel. To make matters worse, Orabi and the princess may be in separate locations. Nerferka is our primary objective now though. Despite what Maurice has said I think we should follow the other airship as that is the most likely location of the princess. Orabi may very well be out on the French gunship. I realize it will be sunk, my hope is to get there quickly. So we need to decide quickly, to where do we set off? I say the dirigible, but what do you all say?" asks George

Maurice says, "Mr. Eastman, I currently have operatives at all three possible locations. As I had stated earlier, Henry Jekyll and Callum Stuart are at in Heraklieon watching the French ship Armide. My biggest concern now is that they have orders to sink the Armide if it attempts to leave Egyptian waters, and they are unaware that the Princess or General Orabi may be on board." He then says, "My other two operatives are in Tel-el Kabir, awaiting the start of the battle, now a mere two hours away. The Egyptian operative remains in the Egyptian boy disguise and is at the camp of the Egyptian rebel troops. The other operative is currently with the British forces, which also has a team of Frenchmen and small dirigible behind the lines. Young Henry here has been using the magical carpet to coordinate messages between those two operatives and myself."

Mina says, "We also have another option. Both Lawrence and I have been granted authority over United States naval ships. The American Ambassador to Egypt said that there are two such vessels in Alexandria, which you said was fifteen miles from Heraklieon." Lawrence states, "We can send a telegraph. They could be underway in an hour." Beuajoulais replies, "An excellent idea." Ruby says, "Yeah but what would we do with that? Send those ships to try to intercept the French battleship?"

Mina says, "No, just keep it from running away. That way the British won't sink it with the Princess possibly on board." Beaujoulais says, "Well, whatever we decide to do we should do it fast. We do have the flying carpet." Mina adds, "And we came here in a dirigible." Freya interjects "I can fly as well." "As can the Princess's ogre bodyguard". George says, "Good point. My brain is getting addled with all these options! Well, I say at least some of us follow where the French left. We don't know where the Princess is but our best guess is they kidnapped her in the trunk."

There appear to be a large number of readers of this Story Hour. Reader comments are appreciated.

Chapter 100, “The Crystal Ball" September 12, 1882, 4:00 AM.

Ruby paused and her eyes glazed over as she puzzled something out. "I wonder if the Sheik would remember if the French took the trunk or not? We should ask him." Mina says, "Ruby, that's brilliant." George is hit with sudden inspiration. He calls into the other room where Mengesha had been left after returning with Ruby from the princess's room.

George exclaims, "Mengesha, you are aware I suppose of our suspicions that the princess was taken by the French in the trunk from her room. The problem is that we have three possible locations the French may have taken her to. We are trying to determine to which we should head to first with our limited time. We also have discovered a more sinister plot to impersonate General Orabi and believe that the man killed earlier was not him and the real Orabi not only did not kill the King but is alive. Or was a few hours ago. Do you have any guess to where they may have taken her or better yet do you have some magical means of tracking her or locating her being her bodyguard?" asks George.

Mengesha says that an attempt to locate the Princess magically has already been tried, that as soon as they had exited the pyramids the Barrister ordered one of the nature-priests to cast a "Reflecting Pool" to find the real Neferka, but the spell failed to do so. He adds "The Barrister then had a wizard try a "Locate Object" spell on the Princess's magical earring studs, but that too failed." Mina says, "Chevruel and Daguerre have clearly done something to mask the Princess from detection. But we could still try a "Detect Object" spell not on her personal objects but on the trunk they took her in. Let's go confirm that with the Sheik." The Sheik is not far and he does indeed confirm that the French took the trunk. None of the wizards present have taken that spell today, however the Sheik says that the wealthy man with the harem who had sold the Princess the dress Ruby is wearing is still at the hotel, and among the magical items that the man has stored in the hotel's vault is Crystal Ball.

The group agrees to reconvene shortly in the Princess's suite while the Sheik who runs the hotel goes to get the Crystal Ball from the wealthy Sheik who is staying there. During that time the group gives young Henry Jones the exact wording of the telegram for him to send to the United States Navy in Alexandria. George gets some papers and jots down: "U.S. Naval Commanders in Alexandria STOP French warship Armide anchored off Heraklieon STOP British Navy will sink Armide if it leaves Egyptian waters STOP Armide might carry valuable human cargo STOP Prevent Armide from leaving Egyptian waters." Ruby comments "That sounds good George."

"Ok from whom shall the order arise?" George asks looking up from the note. Mina says, "Make it from Lieutenant Commander Lawrence Cantrell. With unknown naval commanders his name would probably carry more weight due to his gender." George replies "Done" and adds the name onto the end of the telegraph message and hands it to Henry.

Ruby says, "Hopefully the sheik doesn't give us trouble with using the crystal ball. That said, anyone know how to use one? I'm very curious to learn about it" Mina says, "The Sheik himself should know. Any spellcaster could use it, although if we're planning to have it focus on the trunk it should probably be used by the person who remembers best what it looks like. Mengesha, do you know how to cast any spells?" The Ogre says, "My Uncle was an Ogre Mage, he taught me a few minor magical incantations." "That'll work," she replies. Ruby says, "If it doesn't work for him I can try too, I've seen the trunk when I retrieved some clothes from it. Hopefully it just works the first time!"

The party reconvenes in the Princess's suite. Mina reminds Ruby that "When we met with this man a few days ago he had a number of items for sale, including Elixirs of Strength, Invisibility, Diminution, Invulnerability and Transformation, a Ring of Levitation, an amulet that allowed passage through solid objects, and a cloak that had the wearer blend into the surroundings."

Sheik Ali arrives and says "Sheik Antuf el-Heru will be here momentarily. He was less than pleased at being woken up in the middle of the night, nor was he fond of the idea of letting us use one of his private magic items for free. But he quickly reconsidered after I told him that the King and Princes were dead and the magic item was needed to help rescue the new Queen of Egypt, a personal friend of his who would then owe him a very large favor." Ruby nodded her head. "You are right, and so many of those items would probably help us. I wonder if he would give them at a discount. We can't always ask George to finance everything for this group. Perhaps we can also use the 'Queen owes him a BIG favor' thing."

She shrugged, "It's worth a shot. I'll put the charm on him and see if it works. It'll probably mean even more because he knows the Princess bought and gave me these robes, it might help convince him." Ruby smiled sadly. "I hadn't considered that Neferka is now the Queen. Bittersweet, really." Mina reminds her, "Actually, she's not until the Barrister declares it, and he won't unless he can confirm that she had nothing to do with her father's death."

They do not have to wait long until Sheik Antuf el-Heru arrives, accompanied by two burly bodyguards and one of his harem girls. His eyes immediately center upon Ruby, her chest in particular, and he exclaims "Aphrodite's beautiful dress! What did you do to it! It is ruined!" Ruby looked down at her chest curiously. No one had ever said or thought anything negative about that area of her. "Whatever do you mean? I think it looks perfect and it has been doing its job well. Aphrodite herself would be proud I'm certain."

George gives a wry smile "My good sir, I can attest that Miss West's chest is indeed quite perfect. But the dress was damaged protecting me, an eventuality I am quite sure Aphrodite herself would approve of. Once the current unrest is settle, have no doubt I shall spare no expense in having it repaired. You may hasten that glorious day by helping us find the future Queen." says George with a smile holding out his hand for the crystal ball.

The Sheik calms and has his servant place the crystal ball on the table in the center of the room. He explains its usage, how a spellcaster must say the specific incantation for this particular item in a prescribed order and then concentrate of a place, person or object while thinking of nothing else. The person must continue to give the item their undivided attention and then will be able to see the surrounding area of the object, be it a room, cavern or immediate area if outside. Those standing around would also see the image in the crystal ball. The chairs are cleared from around the table as the incantations are taught to Mengesha. Ruby says, "Good luck Mengesha, you know the trunk so well I feel we can't fail. Hopefully our instincts are correct and you find the Princess. It would be immensely helpful."

An over-sized comfortable chair is placed for Mengesha to sit in. The Sheik also gives him some magical ear protectors, made to protect the ears during desert sandstorms, but in this instance to keep him from being distracted by the conversations of others present. He begins the incantation and the image within the opaque soccer-ball sized crystal orb begins to change. Initially the image becomes that of the trunk in a dimly-lit area. The trunk is currently closed and has the ornate wood and metal construction that Ruby had remembered. The trunk appears to not be stationary, rocking slightly from right to left and back. The image then clears up beneath the trunk, revealing a wooden floor. Looking closely, it is clear that the trunk is flat on the floor, and that it is the floor itself that is slightly rocking.

Ruby whispers, "My first thought was the trunk is on a ship. But I doubt a ship would have wooden floors, at least I certainly wouldn't think it would. So that means, like our original guess, that the trunk, and hopefully the Princess, is on the airship. Unless they are deliberately trying to throw us off. But I doubt they would have had time for that, with us right on their tail. What do the rest of you think?" Mengesaha pulls the image back to take in the entire room. The room itself is vast, approximately forty-foot square, larger than the gondola room on the Dreadnaught dirigible. More telling are the walls on one side, which have a curve to them and have round windows approximately a foot in diameter near the top of the eight-foot high wooden ceiling.

George exclaims, "No, that is the hold on a ship. Most ships still use wooden decking even if overlaid over the metal both to reduce the weight and to provide traction and allow munitions to bounce off. Airships don't typically roll since the are buoyed by air currents at worst they would list to one side if they were tacking against the prevailing air current. No, this is an ocean going vessel. And based on Maurice's intelligence that ship would seem to most likely be the Armide. So we need to head there. Let me add a line to the American naval vessels to make sure they don't let the British ships sink her. Meanwhile we need to get the bomb out and ready for disarming or distraction and we need to get going to Heraklieon."

Ruby looked at George adoringly. "You are so smart baby. Thank Aphrodite you are here. Okay, so we're heading to the Armide unless someone has an objection." She paused, "Let's see if he can see anything else. I would hope they wouldn't keep the Princess in the trunk, especially since they are going to try to use her to rule." The image within the crystal ball now becomes even clearer and Mengesha pans around the room while still keeping the trunk as part of the viewing area. The group sees that there is one individual within the room, a man who is lying on the deck atop a mat, his hands shackled behind his back, the chain running to the nearest wall that it is bolted onto.

Most of the rest of the room appears vacant. Something of interest then shows up when Mengesha pans just beyond the man, there are two blurry outlines of light, each atop a mat, and each with a similar chain running to the wall. Maurice Beaujoulais starts to laugh and exclaims, "These French wizards think themselves so smart! Casting a non-detection spell on a pair of people! Sure, we can't see them, but by magically scanning the entire room we see the magical outlines of what we are unable to detect! Look closely at those two silhouettes, one is clearly male and the same build as General Orabi while the other is clearly female and the same build as Princess Neferka."

Lawrence says, "That's enough for me. There's no time to waste. If that battleship wants to run, it will need to overpower the United States Navy's ships." George grins. "OK, that is as good of a confirmation as we are going to get. Ruby, see if you can see anything else while Mengesha has the connection. Let me have the men over to the bomb and let's get the door jambs off and shave some ice and get that bomb outside so we can haul it to safety. Alright everyone, I want to take off in 15 minutes. Henry please get that telegraph out!" orders George.

Ruby nodded at George and kept watching the crystal ball for any more clues. A few other minor details of the room show themselves, waste and water buckets, that there are two doors into the hold as well as a double-hatch on the center of the ceiling, and that there are several bolt plates on the wall that more chains could be attached to. The magic item then appears to stop and Mengesha looks up, removes his ear protection, and with a smile to Ruby says, "I think we found her." Ruby says, "Yes Mengesha, I think you are right! This is good news."

Ruby exclaims, "Now, we have to get there in time! George wants us to get to moving the bomb so we can get out of here and save the Princess. How exactly are we going to shave the ice down?" Freya says, "I could transform and use my claws." Ruby nodded, "That would be much faster than using a dagger or sword. But you must be very careful! We need as much ice on there as we can to get it outside of the city. So you would have to take off just enough to get it out the window." George replies, "Ok that sounds good, Freya will shave the ice down, Lawrence can get the door frames off. Mina and I will go get the dirigible ready and over the street and drop ropes to secure the bomb." Ruby carefully watched over the bomb shaving, ready to jump in if she needed to.

Ruby sees the wealthy Sheik as he collects his magical crystal ball and carefully places it within its velvet case and hands it to main servant/bodyguard. "Hold on," she tells her companions. "One moment if I may Sheik. How much would an item like this cost? And the other items that you possess? We are interested in perhaps purchasing some things from you." "Which items?" he asks. "All of them." She paused and smiled sweetly. "Remember, this is all for the safe return of the Princess, the future QUEEN," she emphasized the word, "Of Egypt." He exclaims, "All of them? I came here with over 200 items for sale." George smiles quietly to himself at Ruby's emphasis.

She replies, "Oh, well, I did not realize that you had so much! I apologize. I was thinking of your Elixirs... I believe you had potions of Strength, Invisibility, Diminution, Invulnerability and Transformation. You also had a Ring of Levitation, an amulet that allowed passage through solid objects, and a cloak that had the wearer blend into the surroundings. I believe these would be helpful for our mission. I wonder what other items you have?" Abby says, "Honestly, Ruby, the only thing that's going to help me now is a good night's sleep. But Invisibility is generally pretty helpful. That cloak especially." Ruby comments, "Sure, I understand Abby." He says, "The elixirs are all sold, they were the most affordable. I have also sold the cloak, but I still have both the ring and amulet that you mentioned."

She turned back to the Shiek. "Do you have anything can refresh my friend here, make her or all of us feel well rested? Aside from that, how much is the amulet and the ring?" He says, "The Ring, why 25,000 pounds, but for you I will go 20,000. The Amulet, another 10,000 pounds." He turns to George and says, "So Mister Eastman, are you willing to part with 30,000 pounds to buy some jewelry for your fiance?" Ruby interjects, "And how much is the crystal ball?" He says, "It is not for sale, that is my own personal property." She says, "I understand. We very much appreciate your letting us use it."

George had been watching Ruby's negotiations with interest, but decided now to intercede, this after all was his specialty. "Pardon me Sheik, we are interested in the use of both the crystal ball and the amulet, not as mere jewelry but for a much more important and noble purpose. As we have said the safety and security of the Queen and the state are at stake. Would you please allow us the use of these items for this mission. I personally guarantee their safe return to you and will indemnify myself against their loss or damage. I will also make sure the royal family is well informed of your noble, generous and patriotic efforts to preserve the state you so love. The rewards to those that faithfully and dutifully serve the throne of Egypt will be handsomely rewarded. You have nothing to lose in this opportunity my friend" says George suggestively.

The sheik replies, "You will personally take responsibility for loss or damage?" Gesturing again to Ruby's damaged dress with the large scorch mark on the chest he says "I can see how well your protection is by the damage to that one-of-a-kind dress that your fiance has ruined. As to the throne, and my assistance, I HAVE done my part by allowing you to use my crystal ball, and without any charge. You MAY NOT take it. If you have need of it again it, and I, will be here, at least until the British overrun the rebel army. As to the other two items your fiance wishes, a written note with your banking information and guarantee of $30,000 in payment will suffice."

Ruby cut in, "It's alright, thank you Sheik, we will not be needing your items tonight. The Princess WILL know of your help to us. Thank you again." George is about to speak when Ruby interjects. George smiles and shrugs. He shakes the Sheik's hand. "Thank you for your help, but the lady has spoken." George turns and heads to the roof and the dirigible. The Sheik says, "Wait, by "The Princess will know of your help", you mean that you will tell her that this entire rescue was possible due to my letting you view her location through the crystal ball. Isn't that correct?"

Ruby laughed, this time much less friendly. "You think the ENTIRE rescue mission is possible because of you? Are you insane? All the crystal ball did was clarify something we already knew and made it more certain. Do not overstate your importance here. There have been people here working for weeks and months to keep the royal family safe from foreign enemies." She turned her back to the Sheik, making herself a drink. "The Princess will know exactly what you did, offer the assistance of the crystal ball and nothing more when there was so much more that you could have done. Oh, and that you have very vocally complained that I ruined Aphrodite's dress while in the scuffle defending her royal family."

The Sheik franticly says, "Hold on, don't rush off. It was the two pieces of jewelry that you wished to borrow. Perhaps that can be arranged." Ruby sipped her drink slowly then responded nonchalantly, "But we've been over that, you said you weren't interested. In case you haven't noticed," she waved her hand towards the block of ice, "We are busy and running out of time. I have no interest in wasting time talking about banks and such." He says, "I'll have my people go get those items from the vault. Consider it a loan. If you decide you like them we can renegotiate the price."

"Why thank you very much Sheik, we all appreciate it. You can leave the items on the table and we'll take very good care of them. Now if I was you I'd get out of here. We will be in touch." She gives the man a smile and a dismissive nod as she turns back to the ice. "How is it coming along?" She asks those slicing and chipping away at the ice. George turns away quickly so the Sheik doesn't see the smile that he cannot repress. Ruby was a formidable woman. Where diplomacy failed, never doubt the wiles of a woman. Between the two of them, George felt they could talk their way into and back out of Hades. George continued to smile as he made his way up to the roof to get the dirigible ready for the trip.

Freya remains in her human form and draws her hand-axe to assist with shaving the ice. The ice is soon shaved enough to get it through the doorway. Ropes and blankets are fixed to support it and Freya heads up to the roof. She transforms into her dragon form and begins to pull the ropes, with those downstairs helping to guide the block forward and up the staircase. It is soon on the roof. Ruby collect the two magical items from the sheik's guards.

Once outside Ruby gave their airship a quick look-over to determine where to fit the ice bomb. The ice block has been shaved down enough to fit in the gondola's door, but it will also occupy around 20% of the space inside. Ruby says, "So we jam the ice in here or have Freya carry it. Who is for what option?" Lawrence waves his hands. "Can't you do something magical? shrink it or something?" Maurice says, "Too risky. If we try to magically modify it that could set off the protection wards. Best to keep it intact and be a little cramped." Lawrence states, "Message received. In that case we'll just have to put up with some forced togetherness. It'll be better to keep the bomb under wraps as long as possible." Ruby says, "You're right. I guess it wouldn't be wise to fly a bomb out in the open over the city. Okay let's get in then and get going."

Heh, that's our Ruby. If Diplomacy does work, just Brute Force Guilt it

Silver Moon said:

There appear to be a large number of readers of this Story Hour. Reader comments are appreciated.

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Oohhh it'd be awesome to hear some reader comments! How many readers do you think we have?

And on that note... [MENTION=2820]Fenris[/MENTION] is gearing up to start a new campaign of this AGELESS Campaign. He'll have to post his details about it BUT if any of our readers have been wishing they could play along on our crazy adventures, now's a good time to get in on the action!! I'm pretty sure all the playing characters read along and would be thrilled to answer any questions you might have about playing in the wonderful, amazing, fantastic world [MENTION=8530]Silver Moon[/MENTION] has created for us!! Who knows where it's going to take us next?? There's lots of unopened doors...

Chapter 101, “The Submersible" September 12, 1882, 4:30 AM.

Ruby has been given the two magical items. The group of George, Ruby, Lawrence, Mina, Abby, Mengesha, Freya and Maurice board the dirigible. "If you are going to try to disarm the bomb Ruby, I want it near the door. However, we hadn't decided if we wanted to use it as a distraction." says George going through final take off checks. Ruby replies, "Well, I think we are dropping it somewhere, right? Perhaps in the water near the ship for the distraction. But that assumes that we get there in time. Maurice, is there anything else you can tell us about the ship?"

Maurice describes the Armide as a three-mast ironclad that is approximately 225 feet in length. He says that the wizard's main modification has been in the propulsion system, that the magical enhancements has greatly increased its speed. Lawrence says, "Let's aim for her stern. If the bomb knocks out the propeller, she'll be dead in the water until they can raise the sails." Ruby answers, "Whatever that means! Sounds like Larry here knows what he is talking about. However; we also have to discuss where will we try to find the Princess and General. Anyone have ideas which part of the ship that might be?"

Maurice says, "The problem with that plan is that we don't know how large the explosion will be, it could damage or sink the ship, which we would not want to do while the Princess and General are chained to the wall. As to their specific location, we can approximate where the ship's hold may be based upon what we saw from the inside. I would estimate mid-ship just above the waterline. My vessel that is currently watching them is a submersible, so we could surface alongside the Armide if that would help. She replies, "I don't think that would be particularly stealthy, would it? Then again, us dropping from the sky from a huge balloon wouldn't be either."

He says, "We should be arriving on the scene a half-hour before the first light of dawn comes over the horizon. That would give us a short time to rendezvous with my ship out of sight of the Armide and then get alongside. But once it is light out the submersible would probably be spotted by those on the Armide, my team's vessel is rather large."

"My question is if you know if the Armide has any guns modified to elevate significantly? If we come in from above I want to make sure we won't be fired upon. That may be the use of our bomb. Drop it off one side of the ship, say a half mile from the ship. As we pass over, hopefully the ice will still be intact. We may be able to add some if need be. Once in the ocean the ice will melt, the bomb explode. The subsequent attention will distract the crew as we descend quickly from above and the opposite side." suggests George Maurice says, "It does have guns, but I do not think they can be elevated. But we know from experience that those wizards can throw Lightning Bolts."

Ruby comments, "And you said this ship is out in the water or docked at the island they are investigating?" Maurice replies, "The Armide is anchored above the ruins of the ancient city. My submersible is just below the surface not far from the coast, around three miles distant from the Armide." Ruby asks, "Since you are familiar with the ship Maurice, if we took your ship under the water, would we swim out of your ship and what, climb up the edge of the other ship?" Mina interjects "Or perhaps use some of your newly acquired magical items." George says, "Oh yes we do. But with Mengesha, Freya and the ring, I foresee several shock troops landing early and separately from the airship."

"I figured one of us would use the ring of levitation to drop from the airship as Mengesha and Freya fly down. Another one of us can use the amulet to perhaps swim up to the ship's water line and enter through the hull." says George Ruby says, "All that after we drop the bomb? Will we be able to get into position fast enough? Before the bomb explodes?" "Well, if we drop the bomb with enough ice on it, it will take a few minutes to melt. Since ice is buoyant the bomb will float and we shouldn't have problems with submersion. But that should buy us 10 to 15 minutes I think, based on ambient ocean temperatures, that should be plenty of time to get in position." replies George

"Okay George, I think that sounds like a plan. Good enough starting point anyway, these things never seem to go the way they are supposed to. But that's usually when it gets fun," Ruby laughed. George laughed and leaned over and kissed Ruby. "Yes my dear that is very true and in the chaos created is when you shine." Mina reminds the others that "The last Daguerre and Chevreul saw this dirigible it was in Cairo under the control of their wizards. We could always attempt a ruse of making them think we are their allies."

The ride take around 45 minutes, during which time the ice block has shrunk some more due to the heat inside the gondola. They arrive at the coastline to the sea, following along a peninsula. Maurice has George lower the dirigible inside of a cove to the left of the peninsula's end. He has George set the dirigible to hover approximately 30 feet above the surface of the water. He explains "From here we will have line-of-sight to where the submersible now is, but the land will block us from view of the French warship." Maurice then gets out a signal light and sends off a very short message in Morse code.

Lawrence asks, "Maurice, does your boat have a spar torpedo? We could tie the bomb to it." He says, "I am not certain, we will have to ask the Captain." Lawrence adds, "It'll solve the problem of the bomb floating away from the ship." They notice a disturbance in the water immediately below the dirigible, as hundreds of air bubbles now break as they reach the surface. A faint red glow is then seen rising up from the deep. A crimson-colored hundred-foot-long giant squid brakes the surface of the water, its tentacles stretching towards them and glowing eye clearly visible. Lawrence blinks in surprise. "What in Gehenna is that? Is that your submersible?"

Maurice smiles and says, "Indeed, there is no need to attack the beast. The disguise works quite well, any sailors seeing it from a distance on the surface will report only seeing a sea serpent or giant squid." They now notice that the tentacles are all firmly mounted to the side of the craft and that the squid’s glowing eyes in the front appear to be made of opaque glass, with people underneath. Once it has fully surfaced the eye-hatch opens and a man in a military-style uniform exits, although it is not from any navy that George or Lawrence know of.

As they exit the dirigible gondola onto the craft Maurice says, "Welcome to the Nautilus.” They approach the tall man wearing the naval officer’s uniform. He has a neatly cropped beard and mustache of a tan-blond color and appears to be in his forties. Maurice gestures to the man and says, “Allow me to introduce you to Captain Andre Nemo. He is a scientist, mechanic, engineer, inventor, freedom fighter, and to some a pirate. He is also the creator of this wonderful craft that you are standing on. The Nautilus, otherwise known as the Sword of the Ocean.” George looks appreciatively at the craft. He whispers to Ruby "I may have to get one of those" he says with a grin.

Captain Nemo proudly states in what appears to be a French accent, "Welcome. The Nautilus he has seen the world over and over, from above and below." Lawrence shakes the captain's hand. "Nice to meet you, Captain Nemo. I'm Commander Lawrence Cantrell, US Navy. That's a mighty fine ship you have here. I bet you've seen a lot."

Ruby's eyes narrowed slightly, obviously not trusting the situation. "Amazing ship you have here, Captain Nemo. What sort of name is Nemo, if I might ask?" "French" he replies. George extends his hand to Captain "Well meet Captain. I am George Eastman, and your aquatic accomplishment is well known to me. Though I do wonder, as you are a man without a country, and owe allegiance only to yourself, what prompts your presence here?" Nemo replies, "Mr. Beaujoulais and I both share a deep mutual hatred for the French, and these French wizards in particular."

Lawrence interjects, "Then you've come to the right place. Did you have a plan in mind for keeping the Armide from escaping? We don't want to blow it up. There may be hostages on board." Nemo replies, "My plan is to sink it. Hostages are merely collateral damage." "I take umbrage with that Captain. Those hostages are not collateral damage. They are far from it. You will wait to sink the Armide until any and all hostages have been searched for and removed safely. Then I fully endorse the sinking." replies George. Ruby adds, "Oh yes, and that. The future Queen of Egypt is most likely on that ship."

Beaujoulais says "George, Andre has never been overly concerned about those who are in the wrong place at the wrong time." George says, "I understand that. I however am quite concerned. I understand Andre's ideas but is methods are not amoral. I will not stand in the way of his sinking of the ship. He will wait though. There is too much at stake right now." "Agreed," says Maurice.

While his men secure the airship to the vessel, Nemo takes them below. They head down a metal ladder to the next level. The first room reached is a combination drawing room/salon/museum, that is thirty-feet long, eighteen-feet wide, and fifteen-feet high. This incredible room contains a pipe organ, an art collection of great value and very large number of marine specimens. There is also a fountain made from a shell about six-feet across. Finally, the salon has two large oblong windows protected by sliding panels.

Ruby says, "This is all beautiful Captain Nemo. You took a lot of care in building this ship, and so cleverly hidden no less." She walked over to the window, trailing a finger across the shell fountain. "What can be seen through these windows? Out into the sea?" Nemo replies, "And when submerged, the various creatures of the deep." "That is amazing! Can we see what their ship looks like?" she said, thumbing towards the battleship. He replies, "After we move forward. Let me send up some crew to pilot the dirigible while we are at sea."

The upper hatch is shut and the vessel begins to move forward. "Prepare to dive," Nemo exclaims as he chimes a bell along the wall. George eagerly observes all he can (or is permitted to without being intrusive) of how this wondrous vessel operates. like with the airship, one never knows when the information will be useful, either speculatively or operationally.

Abigail looked curiously around the inside of the submersible ship. She'd remained quiet now for several hours, and felt much better for it. Her particular skill set hadn't been needed, and she'd needed rest. For her, last hour and change had been filled with catnaps, and when she couldn't sleep she lived inside her mind. But now was time to come out, although she was still uncertain what help she could be at this point. Catnaps weren't enough to recharge her magically. But brainpower never went out of style.

"So, how are we getting over to the ship again? Swimming? These robes are not exactly made for that," Ruby laughed. Abby says, "A vessel like this with a Captain like Nemo? There's a method, probably often used." Ruby smiled, "And I'm hoping the dear Captain will share that information with us. You're not dressed for swimming either!"

Nemo gestures to the periscope and says, "You should be able to see the ships now." Ruby says, "George, I think that's a job for you." Looking through the portal he sees not only the large three-mast ironclad battleship, but anchored alongside it is large wooden two-mast yacht. George says, "Hrm the Armitage seems to have company in the form of a yacht. Perhaps visitors? More likely a very comfy tender vessel. Potentially they could have moved the prisoners out on the ship, but it is more likely they moved them out on the airship. Looks like we will need to search both."

Nemo says, "That sailed in only a few hours ago. I believe that the vessel is owned by the Egyptian King, or rather was until his recent death. Thus far only a few crew have gone back-and-forth between the ships, they have not transferred any cargo or supplies, probably waiting until dawn for that." Georges states, "There is almost no way to know who commands that vessel at the moment with the fluid state of things politically." Ruby says, "Then the Princess could definitely be there. Though, in the crystal ball we saw two people in what looked like the battleship. Of course, they could be decoys."

Ruby continues, "Either we break into two groups to check both ships or we start with the battleship and try to get to the others after. If will obviously be more difficult to get to the other ships if they catch us on the battleship. But I think we should head there first. Anyone else have thoughts?" Maurice says, "If no cargo was transferred, and we saw the trunk with the Princess an hour ago, so they're still in the ship's hold on the battleship. That wasn't the hold of a luxury yacht."

Abigail did not hear anybody come up behind her, but a pair of arms circle her waist from in back and Callum Stuart's voice whispers in her ear, "I've missed you darling." Abby's elbow was halfway to his ribs before she registered the voice and spun herself around instead. An enormous sigh escaped her and she said, "Thank the gods. I've had to not think about what's become of you a lot today. Where in seven hells have you been?"

He replies, "I saw you from a distance at Gizah, but you were around too many people for me to get any closer. For the past five hours I've been here on this ship, watching the Frenchies. Their balloon dropped off some cargo to the battleship a few hours ago." "We thought we saw you in Gizah, but there was too much else going on to try to track you down. Five hours ago? What time is it now?" "Almost dawn" he replies, "Sunrise is in half an hour."

She says, "Dawn. Gods I need some sleep. Real sleep. You got here fast from the pyramids. Is it possible the cargo they dropped off could have carried the Princess or Orabi? Or both?" Callum says, "We got here on a flying carpet, it went rather fast. There was only one large trunk unloaded. It could have held the Princess, not Orabi. So he wasn't the one who killed the King then?"

Abby says, "It's unclear. One of the French wizards was creating potions that needs flesh from a person. Then the person who uses the potion can imitate that person, and it will hold up as long as the flesh donor is still alive. So the murderer might not have been Orabi." "Orabi didn't kill the King," Ruby said confidently. "So he was someplace else when it was all happening. Why not here? I say we hit the battleship first." George says, "Yes, I think Orabi was already a captive, I think they only brought the Princess over this evening."

Nemo calls out "Ahead, quarter speed." Turning to Maurice he says, "What is your plan." The spy replies, "While it is still dark, surface just enough that the upper hatch is above the water. We'll disembark at that point." Turning to George and Ruby he says, "Anything else?" Ruby says, "I don't think so, though George will speak for himself. I am ready to get started, no more words and talk." She ran her hands through her hair, pulling it back off her face. "Oh, actually there is one more thing. We have an active bomb we need to dispose of. The damned French left it behind in the city." Maurice says, "Yes, it's back with the dirigible."

Abby says, "Well, you know the French do have a reputation for being rude. Are we at least going to try to sneak? I mean, I'm finding I don't mind a good fight, but I'm not that good yet." Maurice says, "We'll be right at the waterline, we'd have to either get up to the main deck or though the ship's wall using that magical item." George takes his best guest at the hold location they are looking for, having Nemo move the submarine forward alongside the battleship until they reach that spot. Mina uses her jewelry as the Sheik commanded her to and opens the portal, causing the metal over wood side of the ship to turn into a round four-foot diameter hole in the side of the ship.

Source Material: The exterior design of the Nautilus was derived from Alan Moore’s "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen"; The interior of the Nautilus was taken nearly verbatim from Jules Verne’s "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"; The life story of Captain Andre Nemo (and French nationality) was derived from Kevin J. Anderson’s novel "Captain Nemo".

Queenie said:

Oohhh it'd be awesome to hear some reader comments! How many readers do you think we have?

Click to expand...

Hard to say, prior to the recent ENWorld reset we were at around 250 views a week. We're now averaging 100 to 150 per post, some of whom are probably new readers and others are waiting for us to get caught back up to where we were before.

Chapter 102, “Battle on the Armide" September 12, 1882, 5:15 AM.

George, Ruby, Abby, Lawrence, Freya and Maurice enter through the opening. The ship's hold they are currently in is not the one they have viewed through the crystal ball, as instead of having the Princess it has the Princess's dowry. Hundreds of containers of coins, jewels, and items made of gold and silver fill most of the available space in this darkened room. There is a single door on the opposite wall of where they entered. Ruby's eyes nearly popped out of her head. She could not believe such treasure was right in front of her. Her thoughts wandered, just a tiny bit of this treasure and she would never have to worry for money again...

She suddenly shook her head, knocking the thoughts away, and getting back to business. Ruby put her finger to her lips to indicate quiet. She stealthily made her way to the door and checked it over, looking to see how it was locked and if it was trapped. The door appears to be locked. She also sees that the other side of the door is lightly illuminated, and from the blocked light at the bottom of the door there appears to be a pair of shoes or boots on the opposite side, most likely a guard. Ruby went back to the group and whispered. "There is a guard there and the door is locked. We can surprise him, obviously he's not expecting the door to open this way. Perhaps sleep?" she grinned. "But of course, I also need to get the lock open."

George whispers back "Okay, get the lock open and be prepared to cast sleep. This may be just a guard for the dowry, but there may be more than one." Ruby manages to quietly open the lock The group takes to the walls on either side of the door. Once everyone gave her a nod that they were ready, she tried to open the door ever so slightly to peek out. She barely moves the door when she notices not only the French Foreign Legion soldier whose back is to towards this door but another one across the hallway, looking bored but slightly in this direction, in front of another door. Ruby holds up two fingers then points out the door. Then, in a soft voice, Ruby spoke the words of the slumber spell.

Lawrence pulls a gun from his pocket. He takes a deep breath. Abby stood a bit back, sword in hand as a hopefully silent backup to Ruby's spell. George signals to Lawrence to put the gun away. He points to Abby's sword and to his ears and to the gun and shakes his head. The spell is cast and Ruby sees the shadow beneath the door move followed by the sound of both men collapsing onto the floor. This is immediately followed by a French voice further down the hallway exclaiming "Jacques! Frances!" Several voices sound from the corridor outside. One then barks out in French "Rene, head topside and tell Chevruel we are under attack. Carlos, head below and get reinforcements. Charles, keep your gun trained on that door." Ruby sighed. "Well, that didn't work." George says to Abby, "Now's the time if you have a silent spell."

George also steps out into the hall and gets shot by the soldier named Charles who had been watching the door. The bullet hits George in the right shoulder. George calls out in German to the dowry room "Freya, we need to stop them from raising the alarm" Ruby enters the corridor, which is filled with smoke from the rifle that has just fired into George. Ruby can now see the entire corridor. The corridor to the left of door she just exited and the one opposite it go another 8 feet, ending at a wooden staircase up.

The men are in the other direction, where the corridor continues for 25 feet. There is a door on each side 10 feet further down with the two men, the one holding the smoking rifle and the man beside him who is drawing a wand of some sort. The door continues for another 10 feet further, the corridor ending with a flat wall with a ladder going up to a closed trapdoor and an open trapdoor on the floor before the ladder. One man is near the top of the ladder, starting to open the trapdoor.

The hallway is illuminated by a lantern fastened to a ceiling hook by the center pair of doors. While the two men she put to sleep are both lying on the floor before Ruby, there are four more French Legion Soldiers in the hallway, one before each of the other four doors. One of the two at the furthest doors moves in the direction of the ladder. The one had had apparently spoken a moment before exclaims in French "Who are you". The other two begin to raise their rifles in Ruby's direction. Freya rushes out into the hallway and draws her sword, charging the two men in the center of the hallway. Ruby has to step back to let her by.

Ruby stepped back to let Freya by, then stepped up again, targeting the man going up the ladder. Freya's charging makes her the target of the two center men, rather than Ruby. Ruby's spell goes off, and the man on the ladder falls asleep, sliding down the ladder and onto the floor, one leg dangling down through the open trapdoor. The man with the rifle fires another shot, this one deflecting off of Freya's magical armor as she closes the distance. A beam of light goes forth from the wand striking Freya in the center of her chest. The beam of light wraps around her chest in a circle and solidifies into a grey four-inch-thick rope-like substance, pinning her arms to the side, and causing her to drop her sword.

Despite this handicap, she continues to charge the men, and knocks the man with the wand into the door behind him with such force that part of the door splits open, revealing another room filled with treasure. The man is dazed but still conscious, the wand still in his hand. Ruby rushed forward, circling around Freya and attempted to grab the wand from the fallen man's hand. She deliberately tried to use the door as some protection in case he tried to use the wand on her.

He is too dazed to use the wand but does tighten his grip on it as Ruby grabs at him. Meanwhile, the other soldier near him with the rifle uses the rifle as a club to strike Freya. The gun strikes her armor hard, but her reaction in minimal, with her flexing her arms in an attempt to break the magical rope-like substance. Ruby grabbed tighter onto the wand, then kicked his arm to get him to loosen his grip. Her kick is slightly off and he regains him footing. He continues to hold the wand in his hand. George bends down and grabs the rifle from the unconscious soldier outside the door and runs down the hallway. George hated getting shot and was channeling his pain into anger. He swung the rifle butt hard against the soldier facing Freya.

The rifle hits and the man turns to change his target. Either Freya has exceptional strength, her magical armor is powerful, or some combination of the two because she manages to break free, the magical ropes dissipating into dust. George sees the ropes disappear, turns to the soldier, grins and says to the man "Tu es foutu" as he strikes with the rifle butt again. The man crumbles onto the floor, leaving only Ruby's foe still conscious.

Seeing he is alone, the remaining soldier slips past George and starts to run towards the staircase (unaware that their allies Abby, Lawrence, and Maurice are inside the open doorway he will soon run past). When Lawrence hears the guard rush past, he holds out his arm neck level. The guard grunts as he gets knocked down. Lawrence hits the stunned man on the back of the head to quiet him. Lawrence notices that, unlike the other soldiers lying in the corridor, this man's uniform has officer's insignia on it. Lawrence checks the man's pockets for orders or identification. He finds neither, but he does find a metal key ring with a dozen keys. Lawrence pockets the keys.

Now that the fighting has died down those in both the treasure room and corridor hear sounds of people rushing around and yelling out in French on the decks both above and below. George heads up to the ladder and reaches up to pull the upper hatch down. He then shoves the rifle barrel through the handle on the hatch until it jams, effectively bolting it closed. He then turns to the lower hatch and closes the hatch. George signals Freya to drag the unconscious soldiers to the trapdoor, laying them on top to hold it closed. George then grabs a rifle and wedges it under the handles of the lower trapdoor as well as the upper, sealing both doors from all but the most extreme efforts to open it.


Freya does as George instructs. At the opposite end of the corridor Maurice tosses a "Web" spell in front of the staircase up, making a thick coating of spiderwebs that block the entire entrance way from the stairs. He comments to Abby and Lawrence "That won't top them for long. The easiest way through it would be to burn the webs, but I doubt they will light a fire on their own ship." George calls out, "Ruby, Abby start checking holds here, open every door, be cautious as there may still be a guard inside."

Abby moved to the farthest door back (starboard side north) and listened, then attempts to open it carefully. She does not hear anything. The door is locked. Using her knowledge of Engineering and Architecture, she looks for a way around the lock. (Looking specifically for hinges on the outside of the door that can have the pin pulled, break the door frame where the lock enters, etc.) The lock appears to be very solidly built and the door's hinges are on the inside. "Want me to take a look?" Ruby grinned while she reached into her robes and pulled out some small metal keys. "Maybe I'll get lucky." Ruby begins working the lock with her picks as Abby looks on (North Starboard door).

"Lawrence, try the keys you found on the officer in these locks" calls out George as he gathers up the rest of the rifles and ammunition from the downed soldiers. George take a moment to tie up and gag the two soldier who were put to sleep before returning to the trap door and loading all the rifles in preparation to hold the doors. Lawrence goes to the closest door, the south port side, and soon finds the key that opens it. It is also filled to the brim with treasure. "Maurice, what is the draft on that submersible of Nemo's? And how much hold does he have?" asks George peering into the room and sending Lawrence onto another door.

Maurice says, "Are you insane? Those wizards will be here momentarily, we don't have time to transfer treasure. Besides, Nemo can retrieve it all from the bottom after he sinks this ship" George replies, "Ah Maurice ever the pessimist. And what if we kill the wizards eh? In any case you are right, the priority is the princess. Let's get more of these doors opened."

Abby nodded and said, "I'll go check the other door." She moved down and again listened, then attempted to open the other starboard door. Just as Abby begins to step away Ruby manages to get the lock sprung, the inside not being filled with treasure but instead looks like the room viewed through the crystal ball. The room has three occupants, all tied, gagged, shackled to the walls and unconscious. Abby returns and says, "I'm completely out of magic, Ruby. You might want to see if you can sense any traps on that door, then go use your skills to get them free. I don't think they want me shooting those shackles and locks off."

Ruby nodded. "Quite wise, Abby." She took a deep breath and concentrated on looking for any kind of magic in the room, also looking for mundane traps while she was at it. The only magic that she sees which could be potential traps are on the shackles by the wrists of the three unconscious prisoners. "I think it's okay," Ruby said to Abby, "But I'll go first just to be sure." Ruby walked slowly into the room, looking about for any surprises. She approached the smaller of the tied up prisoners first. As Ruby walks around the person's back she sees that it is indeed Princess Neferka. "Princess! Is that you?" Ruby said excitedly. The Princess remains unconscious. Ruby yells, "Hey everyone, in here!" She looked over the shackles again, not wanting to touch them just yet.

Abby followed Ruby in and helped to untie the other two prisoners, waiting to remove the gags until last, in case any of them were to be shocked and shout. Certainly it was already known they were there, but there was no reason for the French to know they'd gotten to the prisoners. After looking at how the shackles are attached, George tells Maurice to go back to the Nautilus for screwdrivers, Yankee Drivers, and wrenches to remove the shackles from the bulkhead. Ruby sighed. She might have to wait for George's idea. In the meanwhile, she looked at the other two prisoners. One is General Ahmad Orabi. The other is wearing a British military uniform. Ruby then exclaims, "Wait a minute! I have lock picks. I can try to get them open myself. But, I thought I saw some magic on them that might mean they are trapped. That I can't do much about. Anyone else? Maurice?"

Maurice is half-way back down the corridor when the webbing on the staircase is dispelled and he is then struck by four magic missiles. Chevruel, Daguerre and one other French wizard are on the stairs, flanked by four French foreign legion soldiers with their rifles drawn. Lawrence and Freya are also both in the corridor, the other three in the room with the prisoners. Lawrence yells over his shoulder, "We have company." He tries to drag Freya into the room with him.

Ruby pulled out two items, one was her magical dagger. The other was a wand of fireballs. She ran to the doorway but stayed just inside. "Everyone in a room, quickly!" She called to her friends. Then she called down the hallway, and bluffed her heart out. Or did she? "I would stay right where you are, if I was you. I have a wand of fire and I'm not afraid to use it! I will sink this entire ship! We all came prepared for the water, have you?" She hoped Lawrence and Freya got into a room, and fast. Daguerre laughs and exclaims with laughter "The American trollop thinks she can threaten us!"

Freya gets struck by several magic missiles as she and Lawrence attempted to make their way back to the room with the others. Lawrence says, "Freya, are you all right?" He pulls a hanker-chief from his pockets and tries to blot her wounds. Freya just grunts and says "Let's complete the mission." Lawrence tucks away his hanker-chief and draws his gun. "Then let's get to it." The still Maurice has apparently been "playing possum" on the floor, as once the wizards and soldiers begin moving forward off of the stairs he tosses a spell in that direction and that part of the room is filled with magical darkness.

"Quick, someone get Maurice in here," Ruby whispered. "And Abby, try to figure out how we can get the Princess off the wall if you can!" George crouched down in the darkness and recalling where Maurice was, grabbed him to pull him into the room, but not reaching far enough. Since Maurice was the one who cast the spell the party he has to assume that the man knows what he is doing. Ruby then said in a loud voice, "Yeah, well, I've heard worse."

"We may just have to open the portal under the shackles and get out of here," Abby said, but still took another look at where they were attached to the sides of the ship. With just a rifle, a sword, and archaeologists tools she wasn't sure what she could manage. Creating the portal where the shackles are fastened to the wall indeed looks to be the best solution.

Lawrence points his weapon down the hall into the darkness and fires. Ruby cast a fireball as far down the hallway as far she could. And then she prayed her friends would be okay. Ruby sees the fire light leave her wand and continue down the corridor. However, one of the wizards was simultaneously casting a Dispel Magic on the area to eliminate the darkness, which also negates the ball before the fireball erupts. The hallway is now visible for all to see, with the soldiers turning their guns on George, the only one in the corridor.

Lawrence's first two shots fire just as the darkness ends. This has the effect of the soldiers turning their rifles away from George and towards Lawrence. George quickly jumps back into the hold. George makes it back inside just as gunshots from the soldiers strike at and around the door, one bullet grazing Lawrence. Hearing the gunfire, Abby turned and swung the rifle up, moving to the door to back the others up.

Ruby swears and fires off another fireball as George makes cover. Freya bolts out after the fireball explodes, targeting the wizards. The hallway erupts in fire. "Lawrence, return fire and keep those soldier's heads down" calls out George as he heads back to join Abby. "Here let's try this" he suggests taking the steel point of a bayonet on the rifle and inserting it into a link and twisting the link to break it along the weld seam, using the long rifle as a lever. Adding his skill in mechanics to Abby's in engineering, as well as the extra muscle. They manage to pry off where the shackle holding the Princess is fastened to the wall. The two men are still secured in place. Lawrence grits his teeth against the pain. He continues firing at the wizards. "If we have a plan, now's the time." '

Abby says, "I know it's going to be difficult to move them, but I'm serious. We should just open the portal under those shackles and lets get out of here. At least as soon as Maurice gets in here." Freya says, "Don't wait for him. He's an adult and responsible for his own actions." George replies to Abby, "Mina still has the amulet to create the portal, and she is on the other side of the hall filled with fire and death. So until those wizards are dead, help me get the other two off the wall." Abby says, "Well, then let's finish this so I can go shoot Frenchmen. I at least seem to be good at that." "That you are Abby, go to it" says George.

Much to the party's surprise, a portal now opens in this room (although not where the shackles are fastened). Mina is right by the door with the portal and Maurice is beside her, the Nautalus having moved some 60 feet further down along the ship to this spot. George signals Maurice over as he twists yet another shackle from the wall. Freya assists and they soon have the shackle holding Orabi snapped off from its wall moorings. George and Freya move over to free the English military man, whom George suspects is Woolsely, while directing Maurice and Mina to begin moving the princess to the Nautilus.

Ruby looked back over her shoulder. "Oh, good. You guys figure that out. I will keep having fun here until you are done." She grinned then shot another fireball down the hallway. Soldiers scream and the fire spreads. The French wizards are nowhere to be seen. Lawrence looks into the corridor and says, "The wizards are gone. I think I got one, though."

The British soldier is not Woolsely, but George still recognizes him, as it is General Drury Curzon Drury-Lowe, the cavalry officer who had been gravely wounded during the Battle at Kassassin two days earlier and who George witnessed the French transport in the Dreadnaught dirigible. George tells the others who it is. With their combined strengths George and Freya managed to break the shackle mount from the wall. They then help move the man out of the hold and over to the Nautalus, with Abby and Lawrence helping to move Orabi.

Once her friends were safely near the portal Ruby finally left the hallway and ran to it herself. Before she crossed over she shook her head glumly, "All that treasure..." Ruby is the last to get below the hatch which Nemo shuts behind her. "Dive, Dive" Nemo bellows and the ship begins to move downward. He adds, "Let's put some distance between us and their heavy artillery,"

Chapter 103, “Maurice's Story" September 12, 1882, 5:30 AM.

Captain Nemo calls for putting some distance between them and the French. Maurice says, "Perhaps, or maybe we want them to chase us westward, in the direction where the two American warships." Glancing at General Drury-Lowe Maurice says, "But first we need to meet back up with the dirigible. Drury-Lowe is said to be at the front and is Woolsley's Second-in-Command for the battle set to begin in the next hour. If they control the second, then I'd say that Woolsley's chances of surviving the battle are close to zero."

George says, "Captain Nemo, do you have any guns that can elevate? I am worried that their dirigible will remove the wizards. We need to keep them on the ship." Nemo replies, "No, our main weapon is the forward ram. We also have creative ways to sink ships from underwater, but those take time that we do not have at the moment." Freya reminds George that the dirigible which brought Chevruel and Daguerre here is now 40 miles away at the battle site.

George says, "We have a half hour before dawn that will conceal the Nautilus if we surface. But yes, to the dirigible, and then to the battle. Maurice suggests they first remove the ice-encased bomb with the dirigible before it explodes.

George adds, "Meanwhile, we need to heal and awaken our three guests and remove the trapped manacles. Once they are awake perhaps they can give us some insight as to how this has come about. But we need the real Drury-Lowe with us at the battle as well as the real Orabi to stop the fighting. Once we show up with Orabi though, all hell could break loose. The princess's word there will be critical. As the French ship, lure it out from about the sunken city, then you should sink it Nemo so as not to embroil America and France in an outright war, and after all no one will know if you sink it." says George Nemo says that he has no problems with sinking it. Maurice reminds them that the Egyptian Royal Family's yacht is still attached alongside it, and it might be best to not sink that vessel at this point in time.
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Ruby tends to the Princess, looking to see if she is under some sleeping spell or if she has any other injuries. She appears to be uninjured but will not wake up. Mina says, "The Detect Magic did not reveal her under the influence of a spell or magical elixir, but Chevruel is the world's foremost alchemist, so what's keeping her and the others unconscious is problem chemical rather than magical in nature. We will probably need some way to remove the poison from her system to get her to awaken."

Lawrence says, "Let's get the bomb off, then. It would be unneighborly to damage the blimp. Captain, do you have any chains or ropes onboard? We want to attach this to the ship." The Captain has his men assemble the requested chains and ropes, as well as a bucket of a sticky substance derived from a large aquatic fish that can be used to temporarily secure the trunk to the French vessel.

The Nautilus safely makes it around the bend and surfaces in the cove out-of-sight from the French warship as the very first hint of dawn creeps over the eastern horizon. After the submarine surfaces the dirigible lands and is temporarily tied down to the top deck. Nemo's crew assume the task of removing the bomb from the dirigible and securing it to the bow of the Nautilus, tying it with knots that can be slipped off once the trunk is adhered to the French warship. Lawrence comment, "Excellent. They'll never be able to shake the bomb once we stick it on." The dirigible is readied for departure.

George asks, "Nemo, when we attach the bomb to the French warship, could we quickly attach a line to the yacht and cut the mooring lines and tow her away quickly? I know the Royal family would love to have it back undamaged." Nemo says, "I could have some of my crew in the water in their underwater-breathing gear and sever the lines. They could then board the yacht as we depart and sail her from there. Lawrence says, "You mean you can make men into small submersibles? That's astounding! If they can do that, then this plan has chance of succeeding." Abby smiled suddenly. "THAT is something I wouldn't mind trying. I suppose training is necessary, though." Nemo says, "Some, but after this is over I would be delighted to show you my undersea world first hand." After telling Captain Nemo that she just might take him up on the offer to let her try the underwater equipment when all this was over, Abby went in search of Cal.

While this is going on Ruby observes a quiet and personal moment from Maurice Beaujoulais, which she uses her skills to be discrete enough to keep him from noticing. He moves to a corner of the room and pulls up from a gold chain beneath his shirt and tie an oval gold locket, approximately 3-by-2 inches in size. He opens the locket, to reveal two painted pictures inside of a teenage girl and boy. The boy bears a strong resemblance to Beaujoulais, and she initially thinks that it might be his son, until she notices the clothing worn in the picture is three-decades out-of-date.

She overhears him say softly to the picture, "Once more into the breach my darling, prayers to Jupiter that my letters remain in safe keeping." Looking more intently at the girl's picture, Ruby notes that the woman's facial shape and features are similar to that of her best friend, Katherine Kale. The information then clicks, as Ruby has a spark of recognition! She is certain that she met the woman in the portrait a little more than three months earlier! It is a picture of Kate's mother Amelie Seagram from when she was a girl in Boston, which was the home city of Beaujoulais as well.

Ruby breaks her silence as she walks towards the man. "What a beautiful locket, Maurice. It looks very well made." He acts initially startled, then calms himself. He smiles and says, "Yes, it is a family heirloom, my only possession from my time as a young man. I regard it as my good luck charm." Ruby nods her head, "I can understand that, good luck charms are important these days. I hope you will excuse me but it was so pretty that I couldn't help but take a peek at it. And surprisingly, I think I know the lady in your photo! Might that be Amelie Seagram by chance?"

His eyes go wide and his jaw drops (a very rare reaction from a professional spy). "You know of Amelie!" he exclaims. Ruby says, "Yes. I mean, I don't know her very well but her daughter is my very best friend! They say it's a small world," she smiled. Ruby then asks, "How do you know her?" He says, "I can't say....or rather, I won't say....unless you first agree to never tell Amelie, her daughter Katherine, or any of her other relatives, that you have met me." Ruby took a deep breath in. It would be hard to keep such a secret from her friend. Finally she nodded her head. "Alright, I agree. I will not tell them I have met you."

He replies, "Thank you. Amelie is the love of my life, we were to be married, but she became lost from me forever. She is my inspiration for living, and also the reason behind my chosen profession. I am no longer a part of her life, as far as she knows, and it must remain that way. And you need not worry about telling your friend Katherine, I doubt she has ever heard my name uttered by her mother." Ruby asks, "How did she become lost from you? I mean, if love is meant to be nothing should keep them apart."

He says, "It was not meant to be. We were very young when we fell in love. We planned to marry. We had great plans for the future. Then....my cousin in Paris died without heirs, leaving us my Grandfather's business. Father needed mother and I to return with him to France to settle the estate and make arrangements for the business. We arrived to find many things, that the 'accident' that befell my cousin was no accident, it was caused by evil French wizards who desired to steal the business. Father and I always had a sense for justice and fought back. But we lost, the wizards were connected to Emperor Napoleon III. We were arrested and did not even get a trial, the three of us were thrown into prison and that was where we remained for the next five years."

Ruby asks, "What was your family business that they wanted so badly?" He replies, "We manufactured metal items, using both common and rare metals. I did not know it at the time, but apparently some of the more rare metals were those prized by wizards for the manufacturing of magical items."

He continues, "Then my parents could not take it any longer....father took his own life in that prison, and mother then died of a broken heart......" he gets choked up and begins to cry. Maurice recomposes himself and continues "Despite losing my parents and having to live the dreadful conditions of the prison it was my love for Amelie that kept me going. I was allowed to write to her once a month, which they said they would mail on my behalf. I was finally offered parole, provided that I first signed away all claim to the family's land, business and fortune. I signed willingly, it would set me free and I would be with my true love again in America, never to set foot in Europe again.

As I was being released they gave me my possessions and their true cruelty was manifest. They returned to me the clothing that I wore when imprisoned....and two boxes of letters. One contained all sixty-two monthly letters that I had written, unopened and unsent. The other contained letters to me from Amelie, all of which had been opened and read but never delivered to me. They were plentiful for the first year of imprisonment. Someone had apparently sent her a telegram saying that I was at a private University rather than at the prison, so she never knew my fate. Her second year's letters were fewer. Then there was a different letter included, written by another hand....my own, although I never wrote it. The letter said that I had gone on to a happy life and no longer had time for childish things such as her. There was just one more letter from her, a sad goodbye, she was apparently crushed, but vowed to move on with her life without me."

Ruby sighed. "That is just awful. I've really learned to dislike the French this trip." She paused, knowing this was painful for Maurice but as always, her curiosity got the best of her. "I suppose you don't want to see Amalie because you don't want to interrupt her life?" He replies, "I was desperate to contact her, but also did not want to cause her any further pain. I stayed with friends in England and made inquiries from there to Boston. I discovered that she had married Frederick Seagram and was at that time carrying his child, so no, I could not and did not contact her then, or ever again.

What I did do was vow vengeance upon the wizards who destroyed my life and were responsible for my family's deaths. In the course of finding out more about them I was recruited by British Military Intelligence, as our goals dove-tailed. They though I was the perfect candidate, being well educated, multilingual and with strong motivation. Plus, who would ever suspect an American of French descent of being a British spy? I have continued to write a letter to Amelie every month. My superior keeps them for me. He does need to review them given the nature of my work, and occasionally asks me to rewrite some pages where I have not been cryptic enough about my missions, but he has been generally supportive of me. In the event of my death the entire box containing those and my prison letters will be delivered to her. Only then will she discover my life-long love for her, and the details of the special gift that I have given her."

Ruby silently looked at the man for a long moment, her eyes filled with tears. "That is such a shame, so sad, and so romantic. I will pray to Aphrodite that a better solution comes along. I understand not wanting to disrupt her life, but Maurice, if you are the love of her life, she should know what happened. It's better than living a life under a lie. Why would you call that a gift?" Ruby asked gently. "That confuses me."

He replies, "My gift is something more precious. During the Civil War the Queen had me working in America, to keep the French from supplying the Confederacy with magic. I was at Gettysburg, under cover with a Confederate Virginia regiment. I was curious about Amelie's choice, and I watched his Union Army regiment from two miles distant through my telescope. I then saw him fall when an incendiary cannon barrage hit his regiment. He went down with his horse and did not rise. I assumed that he was dead, but had to know for sure. So I spent the next hour making my way across the battlefield, changing my uniform from Confederate to Union along the way and re-adopting my original Boston accent.

When I found Frederick Seagram he appeared to be dead, but I knew that Ameile would never forgive me if I didn't at least try to help him. I had a very powerful healing elixir with me which I fed to him, and the spark of life returned. His hand and lower arm were destroyed and he was pale from blood loss. The elixir had temporarily closed the wound but it reopened. I tied a tournoquet over his arm to stop the blood flow, and then carried him over a mile to a medical station.

I stayed with him for the next two weeks, the first week of which he was unconscious. I was wearing a disguise and using a false name, so after he awoke I was not afraid of him recognizing me on the off-chance that Amelie might have ever shown him my portrait. In the next week I got to know him, he is a very good man, she chose well. In the years since then he and I have kept in touch. We have gotten together whenever he travels to Europe without his wife. I was invited to both of his children's weddings, to which I sent presents but obviously did not attend. So my gift to her nineteen years ago was the life of her husband, and they have had nearly two decades together since then. I like to think that in a way I am also with her, as he received two transfusions of my blood at that Army hospital."

"I understand your dilemma now." She put a hand on the man's arm. "You are a very good man, Maurice, and have the strength and courage most only dream about. I am certain Aphrodite will reward you for it. If there is anything I can do to help you with this, please let me know. More and more I feel like I must help Aphrodite do her work here and this is certainly an affair of the heart." Ruby felt an ache in her heart for the man, and wished there was something she could do.

Ruby says, "Perhaps we can speak more about this later. At a time where where there isn't a bomb about to go off or a war to stop or a Princess to awake" The party and the three still unconscious rescued prisoners all move up onto the Dirigible. The Nautalus separates from the Dirigible, which begins to ascend. They are at a quarter mile distant and a thousand foot of elevation when they observe below a sequence of events.

First is the separation between the French warship and the Egyptian Royal Yacht as the Nemo's crew sever the lines and then manage to get the vessels to drift apart. The sound of gunshots echoes across the water. That is then shortly followed by a huge explosion as a geyser of water shoots upward as well as parts of the warship's bow bursting outward. Maurice tells George "That's our cue to skedaddle." (period appropriate slang term, first introduced into the English language during the Civil War.)

Ruby inquires about the two American warships. Mina says, "There's merit in getting word to the American warships." Maurice says, "But the battle is to be starting now, we do not wish to delay our arrival at the scene. I fear for General Woolsley's life given that they control his second-in-command." "Why's that, Maurice? Who is Woolsley's second?" Gesturing to the unconscious General Drury-Lowe lying on the gondola floor beside the Princess and her husband Maurice says, "The British believe it to be this man. But he's here with us, while one of those Bastard French Wizards is pretending to be him." Lawrence scratches his chin. "Hmm. That is a problem. Do we have signal flags? We need to let our forces know."

Maurice says, "I do not believe so, and the other issue is that most on the ground will assume we are French Wizards. As I mentioned before, I do have two other operatives, one with each army, although I would not want to blow their covers. However it may be necessary with the man among the Egyptians, as he is a priest so would have the ability to cast a "Neutralize Poison" on either the Princess or General Orabi." Mina says, "We may have to, I do not know that any of us have a means to counteract a poison." Ruby says, "Damn, I hadn't even considered that they might be poisoned! Well, then we should head there first. I don't know how to make anyone know we're not French from the air. Guess we can figure that out on the way." "True, especially if it's a magical one. These wizards are a tricky bunch." Lawrence's voice trails off as he tries to remember if he saw any poisons at the hotel.

George adds in "We can have Freya fly over and deliver a message to the American ships. And I have a few ideas on the dirigible. Right now, we need to get to the battlefield. The false Drury-Lowe will take heart at our coming, unless my plan succeeds." Freya prepares to take flight to go and alert the warships. The coastline to the north becomes further distant as the dirigible heads southward, picking up a favoring breeze.

Chapter 104, “The Very First Airship Battle" September 12, 1882, 5:45 AM.

Wolseley's troops were barely three hundred yards from the Egyptian entrenchments and dawn was just breaking. The Egyptian sentries saw them and fired. The first shots were followed by several volleys from the entrenchments. British troops, led by the Highland Brigade on the left flank, and the 2nd Brigade on the right flank with the Guards Brigade (commanded by Queen Victoria's third son, Prince Arthur, the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn) in support, charged with the bayonet.

When the dirigible is twenty miles distant from the battle they see explosions and smoke coming from that location. "Now that I have a little more time, let me look our friends over." Ruby takes her time and concentrates. None of the three show any visible wounds or anything that impairs them, but none rouse from unconsciousness. Realizing the real Drury-Lowe would be helpful to stop the conflict, George summons the power of Athena to awaken him as he casts a healing spell. The spell partially works, and there are some minor effects in that more color returns to his face, but he remains asleep. "OOh!" Ruby caught that George's spell worked somewhat. Still, she is frustrated that it didn't wake him up. She kneels down and takes him up the shoulders, shaking him gently then shaking him more... briskly... to see if that will work.

At 10 miles distant they can make out the forces at war. The Egyptian army appears to number around 20,000 strong with 40 artillery guns. The British and Indian force appear to comprised 11,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and 45 artillery guns. Lawrence draws a spyglass from its case. He attempts to find out where the commanders are. Most of the British Officers are still further back from their forces. It appears that General Graham is currently the only British commander in the front line.

Ruby exclaims, "Nana, do you know any of the British fighting down there? Enough that they might believe you if you told them what was going on?" She says, "The British officers will know of me. They owe a rather large favor to both myself and James for our intervention in the Opium Wars back in 1859." Ruby says, "Alright look. The idea here is to stop the war, correct? But even if we get the British to stop, by using Nana, that doesn't mean the Egyptians will stop. We need some ideas, and fast, as to how we are going to do this. Frankly, I'm much better at starting fighting than stopping it. The only I idea I have is to somehow crash this balloon in between the armies. That might give us enough time to get Nana to the British side. But without the Princess and Orabi to stop the Egyptian side, I just don't see how this is going to work." Mina says, "Too late for that, the infantries are already engaged."

George says, "Ok, let's give Mina the levitation ring and send her down to Woosley. Meanwhile I will get the dirigible headed down fast. Has anyone seen if Freya made it back?" Maurice says, "I have somebody on the British side as well, but he is under very deep cover and would be in mortal danger if I even attempted to contact him. Mina says, "Well then, maybe I could contact him." Maurice says, "I cannot reveal his identity." She smiles and says "You don't have to, I've know it before we even arrived in Egypt." Ruby says, "Oh? Who is he talking about? And even if you do know, how can that help us? We don't want us contacting him to put him in mortal danger, at least not more than he already is." Mina says, "Nobody would question me talking to him, he is my Godson."

Abby exclaims, "Then we need to wake these three, or get someone to impersonate them magically. Which is sneaky but might get it done. Could the sleep be linked to the person who was imitating them, just as the spell is linked to their continued life? I'm no healer, unfortunately, and I'm done magically today, so I can't try to see the spells on them." Maurice says, "We did a magical check back on the ship and nothing was apparent on them."

Ruby, obviously frustrated, said, "I checked them for spells Abby but I didn't find anything but what was on the shackles. I fear whatever is keeping them asleep is more powerful than any of us can deal with. I just don't know what to do. And that's not like me! This is just way bigger than any of us and we all sort of got thrown into it. Here I was, thinking this was a vacation!!" "Oh come now my love" calls George over his shoulder. "You got to see the Nile and the pyramids and even met a real princess. What more could you ask for?" replies George with a grin

Lawrence points out Gen. Graham to George. "Try to set us down there. The Brits will listen to him." "It's as good as any idea. Hopefully they will pause, thinking the dirigible is the French and picking up wounded." says George steering the dirigible towards Graham and descending as fast as is safe. Unlike the Dreadnaught, this dirigible is filled with flammable gas, so George has it descend well south of the artillery.

When it appears safe to depart Mina heads to the door with the Ring of Levitation on her finger and tells Ruby, "Wish me luck dear." Ruby exclaims, "Nana, should I go with you? I don't want you going alone!!" "Sure, we make a good team," Mina says and she grabs her Granddaughter and steps out of the dirigible while it is flying 200 feet above the desert. Abby's mouth hung open for a moment as she had been about to say something when the women jumped out of the balloon in flight. " George blows a kiss to Ruby as she leaves with Mina, as though two Victorian-era women leaping from an airship flying 200 feet above a battle zone were an everyday occurrence.

Abby says, "Alright then. I guess I'd better get my weapons in order. It's going to be ugly when we get down there." George comments, "Okay Lawrence, let's get Cal up here and ready. We need a recognizable face for Graham to see. Abby, I want you to guard the Princess, Orabi and Drury. Until they wake up, we have to keep them safe." "That I can handle," Abby states.

"Well, no time for long goodbyes then," Ruby laughed in nervousness. "I just couldn't let you do this alone Nana. You mean too much to me. But once we get down there, I will try to let you do the talking. At least at first." She gripped on to her grandmother tightly as they drifted down closer to the ground. "Although if you think it would be helpful I can try to detect thoughts..." As they reach the desert they notice another dirigible, around half the size of the one their friends are on, rapidly moving towards them. Ruby says, "Oh no, more trouble. I guess another French warship?"

"We have company," Maurice says. George sees another dirigible moving in their direction. George unleashes a torrent of swearing in half a dozen languages. "Well the wizards are back. I am going to put this thing on the ground willfully before they take that option from me, we cannot assume they think we are French." says George putting the airship into a sharper decent. "Keep your eyes peeled folks, if you see anything coming our way from the other ship, holler out and return fire. Abby, find some blankets or something to haul our three sleeping guests with. We need to get them out in case of fire in the dirigible and I would also prefer their identities remain a mystery until it serves our purposes."

The other dirigible closes to 200 yards and 100 yards above and Maurice yells "Incoming" as a beam of light shoots forth from the smaller airship down to the one the party is on. George does his best to cause the airship to swing wide port-side to avoid the beam, meanwhile still maintaining the rapid decent and calling out "Return Fire!!!!"

His rapid movement at the controls is successful, the beam just missing the airship and striking the ground some 200 feet below. A huge explosion follows where it hits, sending up a cloud of sand and knocking to the ground a squadron of British troops a short distance away. The smaller airship continues to descend towards the larger one that George is piloting. Above, Abby moved faster, making sure the sleepers were out of the line of fire before grabbing up her rifle and moving to help defend the ship. Lawrence realizes he won't be of much use in combat at this range. He tries to shield the unconscious passengers.

On the ground below Mina and Ruby are watching the battle taking place in the sky above them. Below, Ruby says, "Nana, look! They are shooting at our ship!! We can't let it blow up Damn those wizards!!!!" Ruby and Mina are not alone as spectators to the airship battle above, as all forces both Egyptian and British have stopped attacking one another and are watching above. Mina comments "What's that?" as she points to a rapid steak of black moving through the sky from the north towards the pair of dirigibles. Meanwhile, glad her feet were on the ground Ruby reached into her robe and yanked out the Mexican Fire Rod. "Don't stand behind me Nana!" She planted her feet on the ground, took aim at the other dirigible, and prepared to fire off a shot.

Another beam of light shoots forth from the smaller airship and there will be no way for George to maneuver away from it this time. It travels around 100 feet on target towards the larger ship. Then the black blur moves between the vessels and intercepts the beam. A loud and bright explosion follows, as the party sees that the blur was Freya in black-dragon form and flying at a speed much faster than they had imagined that she could. A large spot on her back and right wing is smoldering and giving off flames as she crashes hard to the ground and remains still.

The Mexican Fire Rod's shot goes skyward and is on target. The smaller dirigible explodes in a pair of massive fireballs, the first from the Fire Rod, the second from the dirigible's gas exploding. Debris rains down onto a significant amount of the battlefield.

Ruby screamed out, "FREYA!!!" She began to run to the fallen dragon. "Watch out!!" she yelled to all around as the dirigible started to break up and fall to the ground. "And watch for French wizards, I doubt they are extinguished so easily!!" George has no time to mourn or wonder or worry about Freya, yet. He does recognize the source of the fireball and silently thanks Ruby. With the other dirigible destroyed there is less urgency, but there is no guarantee that the wizards are dead.

George keeps the dirigible headed to ground, although doing so now at a safer pace. George's biggest problem with the landing becomes finding a spot without burning debris from the other gondola. He eventually locates an area of sufficient size to put down and brings the dirigible to a halt. Lawrence looks around for a clear patch of ground. Finding on that is relatively undisturbed, he sits. "Ah, that feels good."

Ruby scrambled over to the dragon and looked her over quickly. She put a wavering hand over the body and cast a heal spell on her, hoping to at least keep her from getting worse. The large black dragon appears to still be alive and the spell helps to seal over the wound. A large patch of the dragon's scales are missing where the beam struck and smoke is still coming off from the charred leather hide that was beneath the scales. Ruby gently stroked the dragon's scales. "I'm sorry friend, there isn't much more I can do. You were so very brave up there."

Mina approached. "Ruby, we must hurry before the fighting begins again. Now is the time to speak to the British." Ruby replied, "No, I can't leave her unprotected Nana. She's done a lot for us." She placed a hand on her granddaughter's arm. "I will help." Mina casts a cure light on the fallen dragon. Mina says "She is alive and will be alright. Come, the fate of a lot more than one rests on this. We must go." She led a worried Ruby away to find General Woolsely. The artillery temporarily stops and infantry troops that had been clashing pull back to await further orders following the interruption of the battle.

George secures the controls, the dirigible was still functional and now there was at least a chance of reusing it. He turns to Lawrence and Abby and Cal. "Okay folks, Cal and Lawrence grab Orabi and Drury, cover their heads, I don't want anyone doing anything strange happening." George bends and picks up the princess. "Abby I need you to run interference for us as we leave. We need to get out and see about Freya and get the leaders of both armies to listen to us." They cover the heads of the unconscious men with hoods. Cal supports Orabi on his shoulder while Lawrence does the same for Drury. "Let's go. The surprise won't last for long."

Ruby and Mina head in the direction that a large number of officers seem to have assembled. A man British officer with Captain's insignia hurries up to them and exclaims "You women should get to safety, there is a battle taking place here." "We noticed," Ruby replied tersely. Mina raised an eyebrow at her granddaughter which caused her to step back. Mina said, "We are here to help end this. I need to speak to General Woolsley, i have information for him. Where can I find him? He is a friend of mine. Obviously this is of great importance and must be done quickly." The Captain replies, "The General is currently unavailable, he is busy managing this battle. I can bring you both to a place of safety in the rear of the fighting lines and get word to the General that you wish to see him. If he feels it of importance he might find time once the fighting has ceased."

"NO," Mina insists, "We need to see him NOW so we can stop the fighting NOW before anyone else dies. I am a personal friend of his and I am certain if you do not bring us to him now there will be hell to pay. At the very least tell him Wilamena Parker from the United States of America has news that is most important, it will change this war for certain." While her grandmother spoke Ruby looked around to see if she could spot where the general was. Meanwhile, both lines of forces move slightly further back, clearly awaiting orders before resuming fighting.

She does not see the General, but she does spot a canvas tent around 200 yards away that has been erected behind a sand dune, blocking its view from the Egyptian army. There are around a dozen horses are being held by enlisted and a few more enlisted men guarding the flaps to the tent. Ruby hooked her arm through her grandmother's. "Come, Nana, if they won't help us we will find the general ourselves. And they will later regret making this huge mistake." She began directing her grandmother towards the tent and they started walking there quickly. Ruby and Mina push past the captain and march in the direction of the tent with the Captain chasing behind them and calling out "Wait for me." "Wait for you for what, my dear man? You were so helpful before..." They continue to walk to the tent.

Now that they are safely on the ground, George moves to intercede on the rebel side. "Okay Cal, Lawrence and Abby, set down our friends and guard them well! Ruby and Mina are over with the British, I will head over and start talking to the rebels." George heads towards the rebel lines calling out loudly in Arabic with his hands up, open and empty. "My friends, I bring good news, but I need to speak with the general! We can end the hostilities!"

George's approach to the Egyptians is met with a squadron aiming their rifles at him and a man who George recalls seeing at Orabi's wedding saying to him, "Halt American. You wish to help us......just as you helped Ahmed?" Lawrence is the first to notice a quartet of men approaching. They are coming from neither the British or Egyptian lines, but from a side direction. Two are dressed in Arabian garb and the other two in European garb.

Lawrence moves towards them after rising to his feet with some effort. "Fine day for a walk, gentlemen. Don't you think? May I ask who you are?" One of the men in Arabian garb steps forward and says in English, "I am Ouaheed Al Kazim, the Sheik of the surrounding town of Tel El-Kabir. We are neutral in this conflict, I simply seek to keep my community from destruction." Lawrence bows. "Nice to meet you, Sheik al Kazim. I'm Lawrence Cantrell and this is my friend Abigail. We just got here, but is there anything we can do to help?"

Ouaheed says "The fighting appears to have stopped. I had thought to use this time to speak to my Egyptian brothers." Lawrence replies, "A wise plan. Take advantage of the quiet time while you can." The man says, "I had best be quick about it then, there is no way of knowing how long this lull will last." Lawrence replies, "Aye. Good luck to you. If you can end this fighting, all the better."


Abigail recognizes one of the two men in European clothing who is with Ouaheed. Back at the archaeological dig in Europe she saw him in several photographs. He is the archaeologist Edouard Armand Isidore Hippolyte Lartet, the founder of modern paleontology. She also recalls hearing the prior week, when she had impersonated Sarah Bernhardt, that Lartet was leading a team that was looking for the Atlantis gateway at a site down in Nubia. Lawrence says farewell to the sheik and rejoins his companions.

The Shiek and his companions continue onward. Abby waved Lawrence back over to where she and Cal were standing. Quietly, she said to them, "That man, he's a French archaeologist, his name's Lartet, and if what I heard in the French camp is correct, he was or is leading the search for the Atlantis Gateway. He's at the very least a rival, and I don't know where he stands in this." Lawrence replies, "If Lartet's searching for the Gateway, then he's an important piece on the chessboard."

Cal says, "They're heading over to the Egyptian camp. I have one or two colleagues over there now. I could head over and see if one of them could eavesdrop on the conversation." Abby replies, "What are your colleagues goals here? We need to stop this battle, and we need people to be on guard against this man. If that's what they'll do, clue them in." He answers, "One is young Henry Jones, he's around this battlefield somewhere, but could currently be on either side. The other is the one who helped my team escape the palace, the man who Maurice mentioned had the clerical spell that could hopefully wake one or more of those we rescued."

Abby answers, "We need them awake. If this man can do it... Let's get it done." Abby caught his eye and held it for just a moment. "Thank you. I mean it. You being here, I know you have your own job and your reason... but thank you." He heads off, not directly to the Egyptian camp but a more roundabout route. She sees him stumble down behind a sandbank at one point, and emerges now wearing a hooded cloak. He then heads towards the camp.

Ruby and Mina arrive at the tent and are stopped by a group of soldiers. "We'd like to see general Woolsley", Mina said politely. A man wearing Colonel insignia comes to the door of the tent and asks the Captain who has now arrived with the women what the commotion is. The Captain replies, "These women want to talk to General Woolsley. I have explained that he is currently quite occupied." The Colonel turns and gives the ladies a quick look.

Again Mina responds politely, "We are looking for my friend, General Woolsley. We have urgent information for him regarding the fighting and hope to put an end to this before it gets worse." The Colonel says, "If you would be so kind as to give me your names I will inform him." Mina replied, "I am Wilamina Hamilton Parker and this is my granddaughter Constance West." The younger woman cut her off, "Though I prefer Ruby," she grinned her trademark smile.

The two are soon admitted into the tent. It is approximately 15 feet deep and 60 feet wide on the inside. It is also very crowded with around two-dozen British officers, each of who appears to have at least one enlisted man as his aide. There are also a group of five French wizards inside not far from Woolsley. Of the five, Ruby has only seen one of them before in Egypt, the youngest man who Mina had spoken two at the dinner party a week earlier. She also sees another familiar face, the British General Drury-Curzon Drury-Lowe, looking far livelier than the unconscious man they rescued from the ship an hour earlier. Ruby gripped her grandmothers arm and nodded towards the Drury-Lowe imposter.

Mina saw the fire in her granddaughters eyes, knowing she was about to run off and do something bold. She placed a knowing hand over her granddaughters to calm her. Ruby responded by taking a deep breath in and waiting calmly, at least for the moment. Mina turned toward the approaching British commander and says, "General Woolsley, we realize you are quite busy but we need just a moment of your time. I know that you know me, and I would not request this from you at this critical moment if it was not of the utmost importance."

One of the Frenchmen, an older clean-cut thin man with short salt-and-pepper hair, pushes his way over and says, "Garnet, get away from that woman. She is the one who just murdered our friend Andre Ampere!" Mina states, "We have done no such thing, we are not murderers. What we HAVE done is try to help put a stop to this war, and try to save as many innocent lives as we can. There is much more going on than meets the eye General." Ruby cut off the older woman, "Fine words coming from you," She pointed a finger at the French, "You and your countrymen have done nothing but murder, lie, kidnap and manipulate the situation to turn the events the way you want them. Well too late, you failed! We figured out your plot and you've been foiled!!"

The man says, "That is cow excrement! General, did you not see that the younger woman used a magical rod to destroy the airship that Ampere was on! She murdered both him and his pilot! And she is probably here not to murder you as well!" Mina interrupts, "General, I am not going to waste time here with some long speech, time is of the essence. you know me and my disposition. We have proof that you are being manipulated by some people in this very tent. I am asking you come with us or at the very least send some soldiers to see this proof. This must be done now." Ruby's fists and teeth were clenched, her green eyes narrowed at the lying Frenchman.


The opening paragraphs are the historical account of how the Battle of Tel El-Kabir began (albeit 24 hours later). In both the historical account and this game the battle only lasted for an hour, however the historical battle did not have any exploding airships, flying dragons or French wizards as part of it. That battle ended in an overwhelming British victory, and the start of a 72-year-long British occupation of the country. This story is clearly taking things in a different direction.

Chapter 105, “For the Future of Egypt" September 12, 1882, 7:00 AM.

The General's Second-in-Command, the fake Drury-Lowe, comes over to Woolsley and says, "I saw what Mr. Guizot saw as well, the young woman was the one who caused the airship to explode. General Woolsely, you cannot go anywhere with these people, they clearly seek to help the Egyptian Rebels." Ruby says, "Yes, I am not denying that I shot at the airship. But perhaps you missed the part where they fired on us first? But you have no proof that we are here to help the rebels and you found find none because it is not true. The French here are going to try to convince you that we are spies and have bad intentions because it is they who don't want their plot known!"

Mina interjected, "General, as I said, we are here to help both sides, to end this useless fighting." Mina smiled calmly, a look that was familiar to Ruby. "I believe you owe me a favor General, if you recall the last time we were together. All I ask is that you come and see what we have to show you. Then you can make your own decisions as to what to do going forward." General Drury Curzon Drury-Lowe exclaims, "General, we are in the midst of a great battle. You cannot turn your back on your duty to entertain the preposterous notions of these women!"

"We're certainly not shocked to hear YOU say this," Ruby says disgustingly. "Of course the REAL Drury Lowe would probably not agree with you. HE would not needlessly waste lives if he didn't have to." Mina nodded. "Yes General, what my granddaughter says is true. We rescued the real Drury-Lowe just an hour ago from a French warship. We also rescued Princess Nerfika and her husband, General Orabi." "They are lying General," Drury-Lowe exclaims. He adds "If I were an imposter replaced recently would I know that we spoke last week about the cigars that you smoked with General's Jackson and Longstreet when you visited the Confederacy during the American war?" I cannot emphasize enough, these people have proven that they are dangerous."

Simultaneous to Mina and Ruby's negotiations, George is conducting his own negotiations with an Egyptian rebel officer. George holds his hands up to show he is unarmed. In Arabic he addresses them formally "Gentlemen. I am here as an agent of my own, however, I seek only peace for the Egyptian people, the restoration of the true monarchy, absent of English OR French influence. I bear news of a most sinister and treacherous plot. Not only could my news save the loss of many brave Egyptian soldiers here today, but it could save Egypt herself. If that is, you do not shoot me." George gestures to the man he saw at the wedding, "You sir, what is your rank?"

The man says, "I am Colonel Zateb! And you are George Eastman, the man who convinced Ahmed that it was safe to meet with the King in the 'name of peace'. His blood is on your hands!" George answers, "No, his blood is not on my hands. yes, I convinced him that it was safe, and by all accounts it was, until the French wizards murdered him. However. I may have some evidence that will change your mind. Would you and your escort mind accompanying me to over to my friends there? By all means have your men keep their weapons out. What I am about to show you will not only clear my name of all stains of murder but will change the history of Egypt."

The Colonel pauses and ponders George's words. He then says, "And what assurances can you give that you are lot leading me into an ambush?" "Only my word and my life." says George taking our his pistol carefully and tossing it at the Colonel's feet. "If you truly wish it, leave me here with one of your men. If something happens to you, your man has me to do with as he pleases. I would prefer to show you the wonder myself of course, and what it means, though I know you will see the grand picture as soon as you see it."

The Colonel replies, "So you are a man of honor. Very well, my aide and I will accompany you." He turns to the rest of the men around him, ordering two to inform their commanding General of this development and tells the others to avenge his death if this is a trap. George bows to the colonel solemnly "Thank you for your trust in me Colonel. I assure you by Bast, that no harm shall come to you." He leads the two men back to Lawrence and Abby.

Abby and Lawrence remain watching over the three unconscious men. They then see some distant movement. Low to the ground and around a mile behind the Egyptian Rebel lines the outline of another small dirigible comes into view moving in this direction. "Well, well, well. What do you make of this?" He uses his spyglass to determine which side the airship belongs to. It is still nearly three-quarters of a mile away, so it is not possible yet to distinguish the feathers of the men inside the gondola.

"Damn, who is that coming in now? Last thing we need is more people at this party." Eastman was busy talking to the Egyptians. She and Lawrence couldn't leave the unconscious royalty. She looked back toward the dirigible to see if anyone was looking out. The dirigible slows and begins to descend toward the rear of the Egyptian line. Lawrence snaps the spyglass shut. "They're too far away to tell. Anyway we have more pressing matters. Here comes Eastman with some of the Egyptian officers." Abby says, "We don't have more pressing matter if that dirigible starts firing into the Egyptian forces from behind."

On the way back to the others, George primes the reveal. "We discovered that the French while posing as neutral agents were actually fueling the fire. They of course want to prevent the British from controlling Egypt, but they wanted more. They wanted to control Egypt to ensure the protection of their brand of magic. The best way to do that was to of course sow seeds of discord on both sides do no peace could be achieved. It was my friends and I would helped arrange the marriage to ensure peace. The French were of course furious about that. So they arranged to have Orabi kill the King! What better way to continue the war right?

But I was there, I saw the whole thing, and I can tell you Orabi was under some kind of spell. The Princess was a French Impostor. Orabi's body was destroyed by the French wizards before I could examine it. But later as we searched for the Princess, we discovered that not only had the French kidnapped her, they had found a way to impersonate the General."

George pauses as they approach Lawrence and Abby. "What we discovered was that they had kidnapped Orabi! Someone else, disguised most cleverly as him killed the King. But my friend, I will show you the truth of this fantastical tale." says George as he bends down and removes the covers from Orabi and the Princess. "They still suffer from some spell of the French and we cannot wake them yet, but here they are, to save Egypt." says George

The Colonel says, "That is not what we have been told. We were informed that the King still lives, that he invented the tale of Orabi's attempted assassination as an excuse to murder our General." George's face falls. "No, it is my unfortunate duty to inform you that of the royal family, only the princess and her sisters survive. Their mother lives, but cannot take the throne."

Once George finished his speech Abby tried to catch his eye, and moves over to him as long as it seems it won't set off their visitors. "Eastman, dirigible behind the Egyptian lines, and Cal is trying to find someone who can wake at least one of them. He seems to think there is someone here who can as long as he can find them." She glued her eyes to that dirigible, ready to react at any hint that it was about to attack, although with just a rifle she wasn't sure what she could do. The small dirigible appears to be landing, approximately a half-mile to the west.

George has Lawrence remove the covering over Orabi and then Neferka and says, "Look down and see the face of your General. I swear by Bast and Osiris that I speak the truth. I only wish to avert war. The Princess is my friend, I would seek to spare her life above all else." His voice full of emotion as he bends and cradles the heads of Orabi and Nerfeka. The Colonel stops to closely examine Ahmed Orabi. After a minute he looks up and says, "This man does indeed appear to be the General, and that looks like his wife, but why are they asleep?"

George explains quickly "As I said, the French wizards kidnapped them. The hid them on their ship out in the Mediterranean. They kept them asleep because they needed them to not escape and to control their false Orabi. We will work on getting them awake but we need to stop this war NOW. We cannot allow the French to continue to manipulate anyone any more. My fiance is off getting a British counterpart as well, for the French kidnapped one of their generals as well and the impersonator is here on the field! When those dirigibles came down at Kassassin, they took the generals away under the guise of haling them, but all they did was keep them under a spell and replace them with impostors."

The Colonel looks up in alarm and gestures back towards the Egyptian Rebel line and the dirigible there and says, "That is what is happening right now as well. General Pasha, Ahmad Orabi's brother, was badly injured in the fighting just now. The French are taking him to medical care back near Kassassin." George swears in three languages. "Can you signal them to stop? I fear for Pasha's life if he leaves this battlefield. You see the insidious plan of the French. Go, I will guard Orabi and Neferka with my life, go and stop them from taking Pasha and let the others in command know the truth. Hurry." The Colonel sends his aide away as quickly as the man can run with that message.

Back in the British command tent, Ruby and Mina continue to make their case to Generals Woolsley and the fake Drury-Lowe. Ruby replies to Drury-Lowe's last comment, "Isn't that exactly what an imposter would say? Of course we are dangerous," Ruby's eyes sparked, "We are dangerous to their plans. They will do everything they can to try to discredit us."

While they are talking Ruby notices the first Frenchman who had objected to their presence, the older one named Guizot, quietly makes his way to the opposite side of tent from where they had entered. She then yells across the tent "Oh, Guizot was it? Leaving so soon? This party is just getting started, don't you think? You should stick around." The Frenchman turns, picks up something from a table, and walks back in their direction. Ruby notes that he is now holding a wand of some sort. Ruby quickly pulls out a wand of her own, points it at the Frenchman and steps in front of her grandmother.

"I know you'd love to kill us right here since we have all the information to fry all of you. But rest assured, you cannot win at this. We have made sure many people already know of your treachery and the "proof" is very well guarded. Even if you kill us, the truth will still come out. It's already out. You cannot get out of this." Mina asked, "General Woolsley, is there a reason you are so quiet? You must be thinking on this, do some parts ring true to you? Please give us the chance to show you and I promise you will convinced."

Woolsely says emphatically, "Both of you, put away those vile wizard-magic devices. They have no part in any way that MY nation will be waging warfare. Guizot tucks his wand into his belt and says, "Absolutely sir, although unlike the young lady, my device was not offensive in nature. It would have only provided defensive protection to myself and those beside me. I merely wished to better protect you from these untrustworthy females."

"How do you know what kind of wand I have?" Ruby scoffed as she lowered her wand. " How you've managed to worm your way into the General's trust I'll never know. Perhaps it's a wand of charm..." Mina shot her granddaughter a look and Ruby quieted. "Why don't we go take a short walk," Mina said. "You won't have to go far General, just to the side of the battlefield." Woolsley says "Very well Mrs. Hamilton." He turns to a colonel and says, "Assemble a squadron of troops to accompany us, we cannot be too careful under these circumstances." "We have no issue with that," Mina replied.

Mina adds, "I would however suggest you bring the French with you. Since they deny involvement perhaps they can shed light on what we are to see." Guizot says, "Ah, so that is your plan. To murder us all as you did my friend Andre Ampere. No thank you, we will remain here where there is relative safety." "Ah, yes, why not stay here so as soon as we leave you can escape... because you know you've been found out and I'm sure you know the General here isn't going to be lenient when he finds out just how evil your plan is. You're the one putting all his cards on the table." Ruby shook her head, "Oh no, you're coming with us."

Guizot says "No young lady, I am not. I am a former Prime Minister of France, I do not answer to rude Americans. I will remain here in the tent with these dozens of British military officers, who I believe are the people who are actually in charge here, not you." He gestures to another man and says, "But it may be helpful to have a member of my team as an observer. Doctor Chamberlain is a physician, he can go with you."

"You are right, I do get quite rude when it comes to the lives of my friends and family and I've had just about enough of this whole French conspiracy. However, you are right about the General being in charge and if he doesn't care if you come then it will be on his hands later if he needs to find you and you aren't here. Let's go."

One of the other Frenchmen is attempting to slip out the back of the tent. Ruby's wand hand shook slightly as she notices this. "Nana, look to see what that man is doing over by the back of the tent please while these gentleman ready to go for a small walk." The man is then ushered back inside by a pair of British soldiers, both wearing enlisted men uniforms. One of the soldiers winks at Mina and she then realizes that the pair of soldiers are actually Benjamin 'Fish' Trout and Maurice Beaujoulais. Mina nodded her head slightly in response. The General would be glad about this later.

Meanwhile, back near the Dirigible, the Colonel's aide has just left when the party notice a group of three more Egyptians heading in their direction at a quick pace from the Egyptian lines. Two are adults and the third is the size of a young man. George gestures to the Colonel. Abby grabbed George's arm and said quietly, "That should be Cal and the person who can wake Orabi," then let him go. George recognizes the young man as the disguised Henry Jones. He does not know the other two, although the Colonel apparently knows them.

George does not acknowledge Henry, but addresses all of them "Why the haste gentlemen?" The older of the two men, the one not in a military uniform, says "I am a doctor. I was told that a senior officer was in need of my services." The uniformed man introduces himself as Lieutenant Colonel Tebezza. George grins in relief, "A senior officer, yeah you could say that. This way gentlemen, I hope you can help doctor, and your name is?"

He replies, "I am Tepemkau, which translates as 'Best of Souls'. I descend from a long line of physicians. My ancestors served the Pharaohs and I wish to continue that tradition." George says, "Well Tepemkau, you may not get much closer than this in the modern age. Our patient, or rather patients, have been put under some kind of influence. They cannot be roused though they appear to be otherwise healthy. It is not know if this malaise is caused by a drug, toxin, poison or magic. While I have some medical training, I have not had much time to examine them, and my expertise is limited. Tepemkau, the future of Egypt may well be in your hands," says George as they cross the dune and come upon Abby and Lawrence guarding the sleeping kidnap victims.

The men reach were Abby and Lawrence are protecting the others. The Egyptian Doctor looks at the three and says, "I can attempt to negate any elixir or poison that may be in their bloodstream. But I see three here and I only have the power as of now to heal two." Tepemkau, are these people poisoned? If we wait will there be a reduced chance of saving them later?" asks George. He says, "I do not know sir. I cannot even guarantee that my spell will be successful, but we should select at least one of them for me to attempt it on."

Lawrence suggests, "I think you should cure the two generals. It's the best chance to stop this battle before too many soldiers are killed." George adds, "I agree with my friend Lawrence Tepemkau, please try first with the two generals, that will hopefully gain us enough time to cure the princess. " George then gazes out to the British lines and comments to Abby and Lawrence. "Any word from Ruby? No explosions so far, so that is a good sign"

Ruby begins to walk out of the tent to show the General their unconscious friends. A squadron of a around a dozen troops is quickly assembled to accompany the General and his aide. The designated French physician Chamberlain also prepares to go with them. Mina and Ruby lead the way out of the tent and back over to where the dirigible had landed.

As they walked they did a little explaining. Mina started, "We were here on our own business, General, and we inadvertently uncovered the French plot. My granddaughter Ruby is a friend of the Princess but otherwise we have no affinity for one side or the other here. The French, at least some of them, the French Wizards are unhappy about the situation in their own country. That is, they seem to be moving towards a less magical society. So these French Wizards plotted to take over Egypt in their own way - by murdering the King and then using the Princess, who is now married to Orabi and in fact, the Queen, to in effect puppet rule for them.

Unfortunately we have been unable to stop them from murdering the royal family as we did not have previous knowledge of the plan. In effect the French managed to impersonate the General and the Princess at the Peace Summit, where the false Orabi then assassinated the King. That body was destroyed before we could examine it, but it was Sandra Bernhardt who impersonated the Princess. The French Wizards wanted to establish their own puppet government.

But as you will see they were hedging their bets and playing both sides. When a high ranking officer was injured the French came down in a dirigible to whisk them away on a humanitarian mission. Odd that they would do so for any altruistic means. In fact it was the perfect pretext to have officers at their disposal. Of course, this remains our theory, and just words without proof. Until now." "Seeing will be believing I assure you," adds Ruby as they approach the site with the real Drury.

Those by the dirigible look off to the far distance where a group of around fifteen are moving in this direction from some 400 yards away. The group appears to be comprised mostly of British soldiers, although George also spots Ruby West and Mina Parker among them. Lt. Col. Tabezza exclaims, "British troops are heading this way. Quickly, we must get myself and General Orabi away before we are captured or killed!"

George steps in front of him. "Please, Tabezza. Wait. No harm will befall you or General Orabi. This area is not under British control, nor rebel control. It is under my control and no one will be doing any shooting to keep the peace, other than perhaps my fiance. They are being brought here by my friends. Because the British have been duped by the French just as you have."

George now stoops and removes the covering from Drury's head. "See, one of their generals was replaced as well. It is vitally important that both sides of this conflict see that they are being manipulated by the French. So please, stay, you have my word of honor that no harm will befall you or Orabi. You saw that you could trust me before when I brought you here, please trust in me a bit longer, for the future of Egypt."

George then turns and says to Abby, "Would you please go fetch Hassan from the dirigible, and tell him to keep his weapons holstered. We will need his testimony." Abigail goes over to the tethered airship and requests that Lt. Col Hassan join them. He makes a few adjustments to the controls (essentially shifting it from Neutral to Park), rechecks the tethers to ensure that the vehicle is thoroughly anchored, and then joins her as they walk the short distance back to the others. They doctor adds, "I should probably wait. I would not want them to interrupt or misinterpret my spell casting."

Lieutenant Colonel Tebezza says "Alright Mr. Eastman, I will trust you. But if they decide to kill General Orabi I will expect you and your companions to take up arms to prevent that from happening."

Chapter 106, “Revelations" September 12, 1882, 7:30 AM.

As the group closes to around 100 feet distance George can make out that accompanying Mina and Ruby are a squadron of a dozen soldiers, a man who appears to be General Woolsley, and a man in wool clothing who George recognizes as being the same French Physician that had gone on the Dreadnaught three days earlier when Generals Drury-Lowe and Orabi were transported to their respective medical facilities.

George signals to Tabezza and Tepemkau to wait there and as he passes by Lawrence whispers "keep a sharp eye peel and keep the peace" as George moves down the dune to intercept the British party. Lawrence gives a short nod to Eastman as he passes. He tries to keep an eye on all parties. George puts on his best diplomat smile as he approaches. "Ah General Woolsley, I am very pleased and honored you have accepted our invitation. Before we proceed up the dune, I would ask your escort to stay here. Certainly they are within calling distance should you feel you need them, but you will not, and I must ask you to abide by my terms that I am asserting on all parties." continues George with his calm, certain voice of authority and diplomacy.

The General's military escort stays their 100 foot distance and George, Ruby and Mina accompany General Woolsley, his aid, and the French physician back to the others. As they walk George asks Ruby, "Constance dear, what does the General know as of now?" Ruby shrugged and softly replies, "I told him mostly everything I know. Well, except that the REAL General Drury-Lowe is right here, unconscious no doubt from French Wizard's poisons. The fake one is back at their tent." As they arrived to where the others were Ruby pointed to the area where the General lie asleep. "General Woolsley, please see for yourself. General you should hurry and see this." She escorts him over towards where the real Drury Lowe is so he can see his officer.

"What the..." Ruby states as she see in the far distance well behind the Egyptian lines the party sees the departing smaller dirigible only gains around 100 feet of altitude that stops its ascent. It is soon apparent why, as three of the tethering ropes are still hanging below and are attached to makeshift objects dangling around twenty feet above the ground. One rope is fastened to a cannon, another to a wooden wagon and the third to a live horse that clearly does not appreciate the thrill of flying. George smiles to himself as he sees the other dirigible detained. ""Well that could be bad," she says. George turns to look at Ruby "No, no my love. That is a good action, inspired by knowledge.

"But yes General Woolsley, time is of the essence." says George leading the group up the dune. As the six arrive and meet up with the others, Abby notices the shocked look on the faces of General Woolsley and his aide as they see who the three unconscious people are. She also notices that the other man with them wearing a suit does not appear the least bit surprised. The Egyptian physician Tepemkau introduces himself to General Woolsley and says, "I am neutral in this conflict, I simply wish to save the lives of both Egypt and its allies and prevent further bloodshed. I believe that I have the ability to revive two of these three individuals."

Pointing to the unconscious form of his second-in-command Woolseley says, "Given their current state, how do we know that these three are not magically enhanced imposters?" George says, "An excellent point General. Tepemkau, please revive the two generals. Now General Woolsely, we will have personal testimony in a very short while. The circumstantial evidence surrounding these people is overwhelming. Both Orabi and Drury were injured in combat. Both men were removed from the battle by French dirigibles. Both men returned in short order supposedly cured of their injuries. Why then would we find imposters, chained, hooded and held in a magical sleep, while imprisoned on a French warship? What motive would we have to present you with imposters, and one from each side.

The French however have many reasons to fear either British control of Egypt, or the continued rule of Egypt. They have a strong interest in controlling the throne however. When the false Orabi killed the king, wasn't it odd that the French wizards then murdered the rest of the royal family, leaving only the princesses alive. The elder of whom they had impersonated, and had imprisoned the real princess. That set them up nicely to take over and control the throne until we intervened. General Woolsley, you know our friend Mina, you trust Mina. You hopefully know me by reputation at the least. We have no motive here other than peace. In a moment hopefully you will hear the truth from Drury himself." says George with authority as he watched Tepemkau work. Ruby adds, "And someone should make sure the imposter doesn't run off."

Tepemkau removes a piece of charcoal from a pouch on his belt and places it atop Ahmed Orabi's chest. He then pours a few drops of what looks to be wine from a wineskin onto Orabi's lips. He then stands and grasps his holy symbol with both hand, waves his hands above the fallen General and begins a chant in the ancient Egyptian tongue, naming several Egyptian gods and Pharaohs. He places his hand atop the charcoal and it dissipates, with a blue light flowing over the body and the droplets of wine on the lips glowing a bright golden color. He continues to recite an incantation.

Orabi's eyes flicker open as Tepemkau stands and declares "It was successful." Orabi begins to sit up. He looks briefly around and then, seeing the lines of both his Egyptian forces and the British forces, ready to continue the battle. He then turns to the Egyptian Lieutenant Colonel and says, "Why hasn't the army moved yet? My last order was for a full retreat from Kassassin! You've allowed the British to get too close."

George grins, Half-way there he thinks. "Tabezza, keep the General comfortable, don't let him stand yet, he may be woozy. And for Bast's sake don't give him a weapon until he knows the truth. But I am glad you did trust me Tabezza." Doctor Tepemkau says, "Mr. Eastman is correct, you should not try to stand yet. General Orabi, this is Tel El-Kabir on the morning of the twelfth, not Kassassin on the evening of the tenth. You have been unconscious for one-and-a-half days. Your legs will be stiff and I will need to rework the muscles before you attempt to put weight on them."

Tepemkau, please revive the British general now." orders George. George turns to General Woolsley: "Now you see General, the Egyptian forces were subject to the same deception as you were. It would appear that Drury will remember nothing from his time when he was a captive, so please consider a question that only General Drury could answer." suggests George.

In the far distance to the east, the small airborne dirigible no longer appears to be under the pilot's control, as it is now moving entirely with the wind. A group of around two-dozen Egyptians are now climbing up a large sand dune in the direction that the dirigible is drifting towards. While it is too far away to make out the individual's identity with certainty, the man leading this group of Egyptians is attired in the same color and style of clothing that Callum Stuart was wearing when he headed off towards that army.

Ruby had gone to Nerfeka's side, to protect her in case of something going wrong. She continued to let George do the talking, as so far things were going well. She kept an eye on the dirigible in the distance. As it drifts with the wind towards the large sand dune with the two dozen Egyptians those men get into position. The rope attached to the wagon is closest and as the wagon strikes the hill the men grab on and start to stake the wagon to the ground. The cannon then slaps into the dune and the men begin to stake it down as well. The terrified horse also soon gains his footing, but manages to kick two of the men, at least one seriously, before they are able to cut the animal free.

Doctor Tepemkau first consults General Woolsley as to General Drury-Lowe's religious beliefs. He then places a piece of charcoal atop the top chest of General Drury-Lowe and repeats the same process, only modifying one line of the incantation that refers to the gods of the recipient where he names Zeus and Hercules rather than the Egyptian deities. The General's eyes awaken. His first reaction is to reach where he was wounded, finding the uniform tattered but the wound beneath it now healed. He then spots the Egyptian Lieutenant Colonel Tebezza standing behind the Egyptian doctor and reaches for his sidearm, discovering it missing.

George kneels by General Drury-Lowe and places a hand on his shoulder "Easy there, Drury. You are among friends and are not in harm's way. General Woolsley is here. I fear you have been unconscious for several days, a prisoner no less. General Woolsley would you care to reassure General Drury-Lowe and question him to assure yourself of his authentic identity?" asks George inviting Woolsely over. George does spare a glance to Lawrence to make sure he is remaining vigilant over everyone.

Woolsley kneals beside his colleague and says, "D.C., it is I. Mr. Eastman speaks truth, you appear to have been held captive since the time of your injury. Tell me this, it is important. When you served with the 17th Lancers in your youth, what was the name of the establishment that you would visit when on leave?" The man looks to the General and says, "You said we would not speak of that place again, but if you must know, it was Madame Gwendolen's". Woolsley looks to George and says "It is he."

George nods his head in agreement. "Thank you Tepemkau, you have done your ancestors proud with this service for Egypt. If you would please head over to my fiance and look to the princess and see what can be done for her with what you have available" says George. As the conversation went on, Abby circled slowly away from Lawrence. As she noted the smaller dirigible being pinned in place, she placed herself where she could react if the Frenchman who had appeared with the British seemed ready to flee or start a fight.

Turning to the British officers George adds in a whisper "Gentlemen, there is much we need to discuss." George signals Tebezza to assist Orabi over to them. The French physician attempts to move in that direction to listen in, but Mina and Lawrence both interpose themselves in the way and begin a conversation between the themselves loud enough to out-drown George's whispers from behind.

When all four men, General Orabi, Lieutenant Colonel Tebezza, Generals Woolsley and Drury-Lowe are gathered about him. In a whisper George addresses the leaders of the two armies; "Welcome back to the world of the free" says George to Orabi and Drury-Lowe. "And now that the two of you are awake and have trusted men by your side who know the truth of what I have said, I hope we can proceed quickly. Orabi and Drury, you were both wounded, and removed from the battlefield by the French. But they proceeded to place you in a magical sleep, and hid you away replacing you with impostors. I fear Orabi, your doppelganger assassinated the King."

George pauses for Tebezza and Woolsley to confirm this to the questioning faces of the two former prisoners. "There will be time to fill you in on the days you have missed. Much has happened. But the first thing is to call a cease-fire, if not a truce, and stop the fighting, we have bigger fish to fry. In addition to the kidnapping of the two of you and Princess Neferka, she is safe Orabi" assures George "the cabal of French wizards has been responsible for regicide, and indeed the murder of the majority of the royal family, inciting a rebellion, playing the two armies off each other and organizing a coup and a host of other crimes.

The problem is we do not know the extent of the cabal. It may be all of them, or just some of them. But it is difficult to trust any of the French right now. As we speak another French dirigible was trying to make off with another Egyptian officer. So gentlemen, the question before you all today is, what shall we do about the French problem?" asks George expectantly, gazing at each man in turn.

General Woolsley says, "A half-dozen of those French are currently attached to my command, led by a man named Guizot." Lieutenant Colonel Tebezza says, "And another six are with our army as well, led by a man named Gouraud." Woolsley says, "I would say that a cease fire is in order until we get this all sorted out." Ahmed Orabi gestures to the unconscious form of Neferka and says, "I concur, but will not be doing anything further until I can speak to my wife. Mr. Eastman, is she aware of what has happened to her family?" Ruby, still cradling the Princess'es head, cut in. "While we can't be sure, she was not actually there when the murders occurred. She was supposed to meet us but never showed up."

Ruby asks the physician, "Tepemkau, can you tell us what is actually wrong with the princess? How did you cure the Generals?" He says, "I believe that she has some type of medicine or poison in her system that causes a deep sleep. Based upon the two Generals, there does not appear to be any lasting side effects from it. Unfortunately I can only heal that type of problem twice a day which I have now done." Ruby asks, "Do you think it might wear off naturally?" He says, "Yes, but I am uncertain of exactly what was used. It that could take up to a day or two."

George explains, "As Ms. West has said, I doubt she is aware of what occurred. We believe she was kidnapped before the murder took place. It appears though General that if you insist upon speaking to her, that we shall delay any action until tomorrow. I understand your desire to speak with her, but all I can do at the moment is swear to protect her. Time is of the essence. As we speak the French have tried to make off with another wounded Egyptian officer, your brother General Orabi. They have managed to place agents in every major organization in Egypt. They are well positioned to derail any attempt. But we must work in a united front to allow Egypt to survive."

Orabi says, "What does that Frenchman behind you know Mr. Eastman and why is he here?" The Frenchman appears to be impatient as the conversation between George and the others has continued. He is too far away to make out specifically what is being said. George turns back to his own Anglo-Egyptian cabal and addresses Orabi "I do not know him General, he accompanied General Woolsely here. I intentionally had him stay back. I know that Tebezza here upon proof of my story sent word back and I would hope has detained the French on your side. Anyway since that Frenchman is appointed to General Woolsley I think he should make the call. In my opinion, we need to detain the Frenchman here and the false Drury-Lowe and very quickly before they escape, or alert the other French." suggests George in a whisper again.

Woolsley says, "He is a French physician, his name is Charles David Chamberland." Turning to Drury-Curzon Woolsely says, "He is also the physician who treated you two days ago at Kassassin, and supposedly brought you to safety. Who the man that looks exactly likes you over and is in my command tent is I can hardly guess."

An impatient Ruby has also been out of earshot of the whispered conversation and interjects, "What are we standing around for? We need to make sure the fighting stops and no more blood is spilled by anyone. General Woolsely, why don't you question your French friend who wanted to stay behind, no doubt to escape?" Woolsley replies, "I would not call Mr. Guizot a friend of mine, however he did serve as France's Ambassador to England for most of the 1840's. He is therefore a personal friend of Queen Victoria, so I need to proceed carefully as far as he is concerned."

George also appears to be getting impatient and says, "Well, the other man is undoubtedly guilty, and Chamberland is terribly suspicious since he was involved in Drury-Lowe's abduction. So Woolsley, what are you going to do about it, or shall I take matters into my own hands? I am trying to allow you to remain in command of your forces."

A good distance away a squadron of British soldiers approach and surround the unconscious dragon form of Freya. George takes a second glance over at Freya. "General Woolsley, would you be so kind as to direct an aide to accompany my friend Abby over there to go and check on our friend who is down?" George calls out to Abby "Abby could you head off there and check on Freya?" Woolslely directs one of his aides to accompany her and make sure the soldiers there follow Abby's directions.

General Woolsley says, "The next thing that we need to do is return to my command tent and place the imposter under arrest. We will see then how these Frenchmen react to that." George says, "Well then, Woolsley and Orabi, please shake hands on our cease fire for the time being. Woolsley return to your tent and place the impostor under arrest. DO NOT let Chamberland state that he saw Orabi though."

While the various conversations have been going on the Egyptian Physician has been applying healing spells to the lethargic legs of both Generals so that they will be able to walk again without difficulty. , Woolsley turns to Drury-Lowe and says to the command tent my friend?" The other general replies, "I believe that would be in order."

George turns to the Egyptian Lieutenant Colonel and says, "Tebbezzi, should we keep General Orabi here? It seems you have been fed some misinformation and I think we need to be careful with how we re-introduce him since some think he murdered the king." Tebbezzi says, "That is a good point Mr. Eastman. I should probably alert our commanding General first, but I would not want to leave the General here this close to the British forces."

"The British will be headed back to their command tent, and this area here" says George circling his arm "is my territory for now. Go and alert the command, I shall protect General Orabi and his bride with my life, as I have in rescuing them from captivity already. Lieutenant Colonel Hassan will also stay to guard him." Lieutenant Colonel Tebbezzi hurries off at a fast pace in the direction of the Egyptian Army.

Abby had quickly gone over to Freya, glad to at least have a concrete thing to do. With no healing skills, she was going to have to hope the soldiers would send for a healer when she told them to. She arrives and sees that while the group has a medic with them, he is making no attempt to help the fallen dragon. The other soldiers are holding their weapons defensively in the event that it moves. The officer in charge is a Lieutenant who says, "You may wish to move back Miss, this monster could awaken at any time."

"I do not fear this dragon," Abby said casually. She knelt down near Freya's head, listening for breath moving in and out. "We're going to need a medic, here. You have no need to fear her. She came here to help stop the fighting. It's stopped. Respect her bravery and help her." Back with the others, Lawrence sees that Abby is having some difficulty with the soldiers so heads over to assist her.

The lieutenant orders the medic forward. He very reluctantly moves up to examine her and clearly has no idea how to do so. Abby waited until the medic was close enough to hear her when she spoke quietly. "She's not a monster," Abby told him. "She won't hurt you. Her quarrel isn't with your people. But if you prefer, I'll stay as between you as I can and still let you do your job." Lawrence joins them.

The man examines the dragon a bit and says to Abby, "She was struck by the lightning and lost a large batch of scales. Ma'am, I have not been trained in veterinary work, I am not sure exactly what to do. We're not even close to the Nile, where I could possibly find a crocodile to attempt a graft from." Abby says, "For now, just check her condition. We may need a cleric for her later, but if she's stable we can wait." He casts a minor healing spell and she moves slightly. He jumps back several feet and appears to be terrified. Several of the soldiers raise their weapons.

Back near the dirigible, as General Woolsely helps General Drury-Lowe to his feet and the man stretched his legs to prepare to walk. However, they only manage to travel around five feet and are passing Doctor Chamberland when the French physician unexpectedly leaps forward into Drury-Lowe, tackling him and knocking them both to the ground. While lying atop of Drury-Lowe, Chamberland yells out "Bouclier", which George knows is a French word for 'shield'.

George sees the attack and swears. He told Woolsley to detain Chamberland. "Ruby!" calls out George "Take out the Frenchman! Protect Drury". George stays by and in front of Orabi. Ruby gently put the Princesses head down then stood quickly. She pulled out a small gun from inside her robes. A double action Remington Derringer. She took long strides to get up close to them. "Chamberlain, don't you think this is a bit silly? You are surrounded. Let go of the General NOW. If you speak another word I will shoot you dead." He turns and does indeed begin to speak and she fires. Despite being a magic bullet it ricochets away from him before it even reaches his body.

The sound of a piece of artillery fires from a distant sand dune three-hundred feet away, although neither the Egyptian or British army appear to have been anywhere near that section of the battlefield. A large shell or rocket of some sort rapidly crosses the distance, striking the side of the dirigible that the group arrived on and are now only forty feet away from. This vehicle's gas bags have nearly five-times the amount of flammable gas than the smaller one that exploded earlier. It is also now tethered on the ground. The massive explosion spreads out for a quarter mile in all directions.

It stops just short of where Abby, Freya, Lawrence and the soldiers are, but they all take some damage from the sand and debris blown in their direction. Abby had been lifting her hand to calm the soldiers when the explosion happens. Abby threw herself down and tried to protect Freya's head. Moments later she popped back up, rifle to shoulder, looking for whatever threat was coming next.

The explosion had come on so suddenly that the group comprised of George, Ruby, Mina, General Woolsley, Doctor Temepeku, Lt. Col. Hassan, Henry Jones, Ahmed Orabi and the still unconscious Princess Neferka had no time to react when the massive fireball headed straight towards them.

Chapter 107, "The Cat Goddess" September 12, 1882, 7:45 AM.

The massive explosion sweeps over where the party was, however, no flames reach them. The fire sweeps by to both sides and above them, with only a brief bit of hot air sweeping through where they stand. As the explosion dissipates they see that a large crater in the sand now stands where the dirigible had been. At the very edge of the crater, just ten feet from the closest party member is a woman with her back to them in robes. George also notices that his statue of Bast is now glowing extremely bright.

Ruby blinked a few times in shock. Finally she coughed, keeping her eyes on the woman in the robes. "Whew, that was hot. Is everyone alright?" The robed woman turns. The clothing, body shape and hair are those of the Priestess Sabah. She is now wearing the magical belt, crown and necklace that the party had found in the crypt of Nafita. However, her face is no longer human, it is now feline. "What in the world?" Ruby looked puzzled as she began walking towards the... woman? "Thank you for saving us, I imagine everyone here is thinking the same thing... Sabah?" "Sabast perhaps even." says George before recovering himself.

George looks towards Chamberland, preparing to prevent the Frenchman from doing anything further to the real Drury-Lowe. He moves in that direction. Whatever magical protections the man had over him and Drury-Lowe are now gone and George dives onto him with a loud thump. George wrestles the man down, shoving his handkerchief into the man's mouth as he sits atop him and holds his hands behind his back. Panting George looks around "Rope anyone? Handcuffs, something?"

Once she saw Sabah, Abby immediately pulled the rifle away from her shoulder and pointed it at the ground. She glanced down at Freya, making sure she wasn't waking and likely to act in confusion. She wasn't surprised though. When they first found those items the possibility had been there, one of the reasons she hadn't been eager to wear them.

The robed woman pays no attention to Ruby and all and walks directly to Neferka. She gracefully kneels down and touches the unconscious Princess. Neferka immediately awakens, and sits up alert, with her eyes fixated on the Cat Goddess before her. The robed woman speaks in Sabah's voice and in an ancient Egyptian language that only Neferka, George Eastman and Doctor Temepeku appear to comprehend. She says, "Queen Neferka, Seventh Pharaoh of the Fifty-third Dynasty of Egypt, you will come with me to ascend your throne." Neferka appears shocked to be told this.

Ruby exclaims, "Princess, you're awake! Thank the Gods! Are you alright?" She eyes the other woman a bit suspiciously. "Do you understand what she just said?" Without taking his eyes of Chamberland, George replies to Ruby "I understood her." Looking at the Priestess/Goddess he says, "Sabah, Neferka does not know what has transpired to cause you to come for her. She deserves to know the truth before she ascends to the throne."

The feline Preistess/Goddess turns to George and says in the ancient tongue "You speak wisely, devotee of mine. I appreciate that you were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice on my behalf. However, my followers would not have recognized me in male form, and your importance to the winds of time on this world are not yet at an end." She turns back to Neferka and says, "My Pharaoh, I am sorry to inform you that mortals of a wicked heart have slain your father and brothers. They sought to make you the leader of our world with the foolish conviction that you could be manipulated by outsiders. They clearly do not know you as do I. That is not the prophesy that I foretell."

The cat-priestess places the palm of one hand on the crown that she wears and the other on Neferka's forehead. All present then see a vision that materializes before them. It shows the Royal Palace in Cairo, with an older Neferka sitting atop the throne, an older Ahmed Orabi seated in a chair to her right and a man in his late twenties or early thirties that resembles them both in a chair to her left. The room is filled with people in fancy clothing, several in military-style uniforms, who appear to be from many countries and nationalities. An Egyptian military man present is a much older Lieutenant Colonel Hassan, now dressed as the commanding General. The older Neferka rises and approaches a table where a large parchment document is laid out and signs her name. The next to sign is a dignified man in a suit, followed by others present. The cat-priestess states, "The signing of the Treaty of Cairo, at the conclusion of the 'War to End All Wars'. It will be crafted by your hand and impact all of the nations of the world." The image then fades.

Freya transforms from dragon back to human form and begins to rise. She looks rather worn out and is missing scales in her armor where the dragon had as well. She asks Abby "What has transpired?" Abby reached out a hand and helped her up, keeping an eye on the British surrounding them. "The short, short version. The fighting has stopped, the deception of the French has been exposed. The British are returning to their command area to try to capture the moles that were among them. A French dirigible tried to take off with a wounded Egyptian officer, but was stopped. There was just an explosion, what was left of our dirigible. Bast appeared in the aftermath and as near as I can tell she has just informed Neferka that she is Queen."

Freya says, "Good, so I can kill the Frenchmen now?" Abby answers, "Not yet. You're hurt, badly. And these soldiers around us are already very nervous. If you start attacking anyone just now you may find it's you against any armed soldier that can see you. Beside the fact that we haven't figured out which Frenchmen are on which side yet." Freya replies, "You worry about such trivial things. All of them voluntarily joined with the French killers, they are guilty by association. I have refrained from fulfilling my vengeance against them until now but with this recent attack directly against me my patience has reached its peak."

Lawrence scratches his chin. "I don't know, Abby. She has a point." He turns to Freya. "But we cannot help you fight an entire army. Sometimes the best revenge is living well." Abby says, "Obviously I can't stop you from acting as you wish, nor would I blame you." Abby indicated where Bast stood upon the field of battle. "But I would certainly think twice before I resumed the fight with a goddess on the field." Freya says, "A very good point. Okay, I'll let her kill the Frenchmen instead."

Ruby looked to the others curiously. She couldn't understand what was being said but she was watching closely in case of danger. She finds the future vision fascinating. George reaches up and takes a pair of handcuffs from the belt of General Woolsley as he stands, mouth agape at the vision. He quickly secures the hands of Chamberland behind his back and stands up and heads to Sabah/Bast and Neferka.

"This is true I am afraid Neferka. I don't know if you were aware of your kidnapping, but nearly two days have passed and you have been held asleep." She replies (in English), "Yes Mr. Eastman, I know that I was taken by the French . We were preparing to travel to Cairo to meet with my father when I realized the man they were sending me was not Ahmed. Once they noticed that I was aware of this, they cast a spell on me which froze me in place and then poured something into my throat which made me sleep. When I woke up I was locked inside my own trunk, which was moving but it felt like neither a train or ship.

A short while later they then moved the trunk onto a ship and let me out. I was in a hold that contained part of my dowery. They then cast another spell on me and I fell asleep again. I later woke up, chained to the ship's wall, and overheard some of their plans. I could not directly see them, but is was Chevreul and Daguerre speaking in French. Somebody named Sarah had impersonated me using my own ring, but was caught , so they then needed the real me.

First, they planned to steal the Royal Yacht and transfer me to that. They were then going to make me drink an elixir to forget what had recently transpired. Next they planned to trick you Americans into rescuing me, while trying to pin the blame for my kidnapping on a German group called the Asgardians. A short while later they gave me some food, which must have contained another sleep elixir, as that is the last I saw or heard until now." Sabah/Bast states to Neferka, "And that elixir would have made you forget if I had not negated it."

George nods and continues "We, Miss West, myself and other others of our group have witnessed much evil. There is time to fill you in later. For now though we need to act, and you are the ruler of this nation, and it is you and only you who can unite the people and bring peace. As Bast has shown you, there is much in your future and we need to begin it quickly." says George. "We know who is to behind the plot and are prepared to help you as we can, Pharaoh." adds George with a bow.

The feline Priestess/Goddeess steps forward and tells Neferka in the ancient tongue, "My Devotee speaks correctly in this my Pharaoh. Before you can pass judgment on those who brought about the deaths of your family you need to be recognized as the rightful leader of Egypt. You will also need that authority to end this bloodshed that has already cost our land many of its sons. We must go now to my Temple in Gizah so that you can be recognized."

The Priestess/Goddess turns to George and says, "My dearest follower, you have work to do here before you can join us. Of the fourteen Frenchmen of the wizard group who are upon this battlefield, only one was part of the conspiracy to kill the last Pharaoh, the man named Guizot. When you come to Gizah bring him with you so that he can answer for what he has done."

George turns to Ruby and in English says "Oh boy do we have work to do my dear." He then turns back to Bast/Sabah and the Pharaoh Neferka replying in the ancient tongue "Ok, I think the best way to get Neferka to Gizah is to take the remaining French airship. Orabi's forces have it tethered I believe. We can commandeer that to get you there quickly. Unless, of course you" says George, gesturing to Bast/Sabah "have a better way to get her there."

The Priestess/Goddess replies "The fastest mode for the Pharaoh to travel will be the Pharaoh's Chariot of the Winds." She points to Doctor Temepeku and says, "Healer, return what you stole from the Pharaoh immediately, it is needed." As only George, Neferka and Temepeku understand Bast's tongue others present do not understand what was just stated. The doctor turns pale, then turns his head and yells to young Henry Jones in English, "Quickly boy, hurry and bring the flying carpet here." The lad scampers off at a fast pace.

George asks her, "Can Barrister Sefu be trusted that we can send Neferka there in safety?" She replies, "I have already been to my temple in Gizah. Sefu was present when Priestess Sabah sacrificed herself to bring me into your world. He will not challenge my judgment regarding the succession of the Pharaoh. At present I have charged him with detaining the killers of her predecessor, a task he is well suited for."

George nods and says, "I will ensure Guizot is captured. I think it might be best if Orabi stayed here to direct his troops, or at least meet with his senior officers to prove he is not dead, and give directions to stop the fighting. I think he then ought to go with you to show Sefu that I was indeed correct and the man who killed the King was not Orabi. Is there any other activities you need from me my Goddess?"

She replies, "I trust you to exercise your good judgment. Guizot is the most important and it would be too dangerous for him to travel with the Pharaoh on the Chariot of the Winds." Neferka interjects "Indeed, now that he has been identified as one of my father's murderers. I would throw him off of it to his death." Bast says, "Yes, you would, but until you are recognized in Gizah as the new Pharaoh it would be premature for you to pass that judgment on him. You will have that opportunity soon enough, please be patient."

Ruby asks, "Flying carpet? What is she saying George, it's so frustrating!! When Aphrodite talks to me I can understand her!" George gives her a 'wait' hand signal. George signals General Woolsely to come over alone. When he approaches George quietly explains the situation and what he needs. "General, of the French who are here only Guizot is guilty of this treachery. What I need you to do is to take Ruby and Mina over there for them to apprehend him."

George then signals Ruby over closer and explains the plan quietly as well. "Ruby, bring Guizot back here bound and gagged. I am sure Woolsely will lend you men to assist. It is important when you approach that you give no sign that you know. In fact if the General approaches with Ruby and she looks despondent, it would appear as if Guizot was correct. Oh and leave the French doctor here, and please disperse the soldiers around our friend down there" says George gesturing to Freya.

As the two nod in understanding and move off, George signals to Tabezza to come over next. "Tabezza, I need that dirigible over there, that your men grabbed. I want one of your senior officers sent over here to see Orabi before he leaves for Gizah with Neferka. You need to let all the senior officers know the truth though. Come back with the dirigible and you will accompany us to Gizah for Neferka's coronation." Orabi nods his assent and Tabezza takes off with an assistant to execute the orders.

George then turns back to Neferka, "Ok, so you need to wait here until the carpet comes back." Turning back to the Goddess he asks "Is there anything else I can do here as we wait Bast?" The Goddess replies, "We will wait. The Pharaoh, who you refer to in this era as a Queen, will need to have attendants. It would be unseemly for her to arrive in Gizah unaccompanied." "I am not sure where we shall acquire attendants here Goddess. Still we shall try" replies George.

A large contingent of Egyptian troops is heading in this direction. Tebezza approaches them and speaks briefly. He then continues and they continue in this direction. General Woolsely says, "Drury-Lowe and I had best be off before they reach this point." George nods to General Woolsely and Drury-Lowe as Ruby joins them to head back. She tells Woolsley, "I will accompany you and attempt to bring Guizot back with me. I am sure he will be magically protected, do you have anything to combat that General?

The General replies, "Young woman, we British do not partake with that sort of thing. Priestly magic is the only good magic." "Well, whether you partake in it or not, you'd better be prepared because you have a French Wizard in your mist, and he's powerful and duplicitous and won't hesitate to use powerful magic on all of us, "Ruby tells him. "I will also need some rope. I will bring my grandmother back with me too. Nana are you ready?" He replies, "Rope, that we have plenty of." Nana says she is ready. After her Nana agrees, they are off. As they walk Ruby secures a wand of fireballs near her hand while her grandmother check over her own weapons.

As George watches them leave he turns to the approaching Egyptian troops waiting for them to arrive. Ahmed Orabi tells George, "That is General Mahmoud Fehmy, my second-in-command." They soon close the distance and are only around 100 feet away. "Excellent" replies George to Orabi. George turns and calls out "Welcome General Mahmoud Fehmy, please halt your men there and bring one attendant with you as you approach. Thank you." calls down George.

The General and his attendant move forward. The other men who had come with him remain behind per George's instructions, but they do not stand idle, instead drawing their rifles and keeping them pointed towards George and his companions. George continues smiling as he calls down "General, I am allowing you up here on my good graces. I would suggest you order your men to lower their weapons before I grow impatient with their display of aggression" The General says, "Just being cautious Sir, I know not what...." He then sees the Goddess Bast standing there. He drops to his knees and says, "Forgive me." He then turns back toward his men and yells, "Lower your weapons, NOW!"

"Lawrence, Freya, let's move. Things seem to be happening up there and we're out of the loop here," Abby said and began to move the others back toward the main group. The three of them move back in that direction. They have seen a pair of Egyptian Rebel Army officers moving towards the group, who now bow down before Bast. They soon arrive on the scene. Lieutenant Colonel Hassan nods to them. Abby kept an eye on Freya, although she didn't suspect Freya would interfere at the moment, and tried to make sure no one was see their approach as a threat.

George says to General Fehmy, "I understand caution General, but I also understand the need for trust. Now approach with due reverence to the Goddess and greet your General." gesturing to Orabi. The General bows down immediately before Bast and says, "Thank you great Goddess Bast for resurrecting our leader so that he can win a victory for Egypt on this day."

George turns with a wry smile to Bast who gives him a small inclination of her head to proceed. "Not quite General. Orabi never died. he is here. It was a very clever imposter who died and committed atrocities in his form. There is a cabal of French wizards who are behind this, and they had Orabi and Neferka imprisoned. So while our Goddess has indeed provided inspiration, direction and protection for us, it was I and my friends who discovered the plot. For now, what I need from you Mahmoud, is to ensure that the will of General Orabi and indeed your new Pharaoh," says George inclining his head to the princess "is carried out. To that end, I have sent Tabezza to commandeer the dirigible. I also needed you to see General Orabi"

George greets Abby, Lawrence and Freya. "I am glad to see you alive Freya. Abby and Lawrence much has transpired and in very rapid succession. Ruby and Mina went to bring back one of the French who was stationed with the English. I have sent for the other dirigible. But we have everyone awake and we need to get Neferka to Ghiza for her coronation. She needs attendants too," George adds with a wink to Abby.

Lieutenant Colonel Hassan says, "I will be an attendant. The vision of the future showed me at Queen Neferka's side, if that is to be my place than I would be honored to begin it now." George says, "As if you would stop serving either of them. So be it." Abby says, "Lieutenant Colonel, I have no doubt you will serve with loyalty and wisdom. I would be glad to offer myself as an attendant to the Queen if she has need." Abby tried not to think of Sabah, and what the presence of Bast meant for her. Sabah would not have regretted any consequence in service of her goddess.

George recalls that they never determined the origin of the cannon fire that took out the dirigible, only the direction that it came from. He also recalls that Bast told them that there were fourteen French wizards around this battlefield, while the six with each army plus the fake Drury-Lowe would only total thirteen. He turns to Freya and says, Freya, do you think you are up for some more flying? We still have an artillery piece, or spell unaccounted for." She says, "If you are asking me to kill a French wizard then I gladly volunteer."

"Okay, but reconnaissance is enough if it is too much. We received incoming fire, either artillery or magical from that direction" says George indicating direction and giving a rough estimate of distance of 300 feet. Abby chuckled and smiled at Freya. "I'm quite certain it's not too much for Freya, and even if it were, she would relish it." Freya moves a short distance away from the group and then transforms back into her dragon from. This causes the nearby Egyptian soldiers to again raise their weapons but they do not fire. She begins to glide in the direction that George indicated.

With the doctor's assistance, Ahmed Orabi stands and approaches his friend Mahmoud Fehmy. He says, "You have done well my friend, the retreat and fortifications here at Tel-el Kabir would have indeed created a challenge for the British, but as we have now discovered, they are not our true enemy. General Woolsley has gone to apprehend the French snakes that have slithered into his nest, and we should do the same." A distance off, well behind the Egyptian lines, George notices that the dirigible has now been brought under control and people are entering the small gondola beneath it.

The dragon Freya dives onto and behind a sand dune. When she rises there is man wearing gray flowing robes clutched in her claw. Abby looked to George and said, "See, I told you. I had to talk her down from seeking out and slaughtering every Frenchman she could find." Freya flies upward and he strikes her side with some sort of glass rod and a bright light follows. She appears unhurt and flings him full force downward the seventy-five feet to the desert floor. He lands with a thud as the sand billows up around him. The man however, appears to still be conscious as he rises up and attempts to limp away, one leg clearly injured.

George says, "Lawrence do you have a rifle? Can you pick that guy off over there?" says George pointing off in the direction of the dunes. Lawrence raises his rifle but before he fires the dragon Freya swoops down and chomps him with her mouth. She then glides low over the desert back to where the party is, lands, and drops the body of the French wizard at George's feet. George recognizes him as Jean-Francois Millet, a painter of around seventy-years of age who is best known for his landscapes of the Normandy coast.

George says, "Well, that solved that. Thank you Freya." Bast steps forward towards the dragon Freya and says "The man deserved death. While he was not part of the conspiracy to murder the previous Pharaoh, he did indeed try to murder the current one. Without my intervention he would have done so. My thanks to you." She places her hand on the dragon and the wound where she had been struck by lightning heals and the missing scales reappear. Bast steps back and Freya transforms back into her armored human form. George says, "Now we only need to wait for Ruby to return with Guizot, and the dirigible."